Cable insulation properties changes through nanofillers: Nanoclays as a counterpart to the traditional fire retardants

摘要

This paper deals with organic clays used as nano fillers and their potential usage in the cable industry together with traditional inorganic flame retardants for cable compounds. The main attention is targeted on their fire retardant effect. Further an approach to the effect on material properties induced by the nanometric scale of fillers is given. Their electrical, mechanical and processing properties are briefly explained. Finally, the experiment is described, where three selected nanoclays are processed into an LLDPE matrix. This is done to estimate the influence of different surface modifications to the properties of final compound. A series of measurements is then carried out to estimate the influence on thermal decomposition, mechanical and electrical properties.