Electrical treeing in EVA-layered silicate nanocomposites

The present work presents a preliminary research work about electrical treeing inception and growth in polymer-layered silicate nanocomposites. Different silicates were dispersed in an ethilene-vynil acetate (EVA) co-polymer matrix: unmodified and organically modified synthetic fluorohectorite, as well as organically modified natural montmorillonite, were considered. A microcomposite and two nanocomposite compounds were thus obtained and their behaviour under diverging electric field is here investigated and compared to base EVA. In an early stage two parameters were taken into account: treeing inception voltage (TIV) and breakdown voltage (BDV). Then, some short term duration tests have been performed, too. The experimental outcome of this investigation (morphology studies and electrical treeing tests) can offer a basis to further understand how the presence of a layered inorganic nanofiller can influence the short term electric performances of nanostructured polymeric materials.