In this paper, the electrical and thermal conductivity and morphological behavior of low density polyethylene (LDPE)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) + graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) hybrid nanocomposites (HNCs) have been studied. The distribution of MWCNTs and the hybrid of MWCNTs/GNPs within the polymer matrix has been investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the thermal and electrical conductivity of the LDPE-based nanocomposites increased along with the increasing content of carbon nanofillers. However, one could observe greater improvement in the thermal and electrical conductivity when only MWCNTs have been incorporated. Moreover, the improvement in tensile properties and thermal stability has been observed when carbon nanofillers have been mixed with LDPE. At the same time, the increasing content of MWCNTs and MWCNTs/GNPs caused an increase in the melt viscosity with only little effect on phase transition temperatures.

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The paper presents results of investigations of the effect of moisture content and temperature on DC conductivity of the impregnated pressboard. It has been found that the conductivity of the impregnated pressboard is a function of activation energy, moisture content and temperature. It has been found that moisture content ranging from 1.4% to 6.4% do not cause any changes in the conductivity activation energy whose value is ∆W av = (0.853 0.071) eV. On the other hand water content strongly influences the value of DC conductivity. It has been also found that the conductivity is determined by electron hopping between the closest located potential wells formed by water molecules in the oil-impregnated cellulose structure. For the experimentally obtained dependences of conductivity vs. moisture content and temperature theoretical ones have been determined to describe the experimental results. Based on the research results, a localization radius of the water molecule valence electron that coincides with the O 2-ion radius has been determined. The obtained results concerning DC conductivity vs. moisture level and temperature dependence of an electric insulation pressboard can make a basis for the identification of the amount of moisture accumulated in solid elements of a power transformer paper-oil insulation.

This article presents results on the DC conductivity of moist pressboard impregnated with insulating oil and its dependence on the moisture and temperature of the samples. The transfer of charges was found to take place because of electron hopping between potential wells produced by water nanodrops. The average dimension of the nanodrops was around 2.32 nm, forming approximately 220 water molecules.

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