Characterization and Dielectric Properties of Fly Ash / Polystyrene / Low Density Polyethylene Composites

Abstract

Polystyrene (PS) and its blend with low density polyethylene (LDPE) were prepared by melting method. Fly ash was used as filler with different contents to form composites by the same way with PS/LDPE 80/20 blend. The obtained data of fly ash from X-Ray Fluorescence analysis displayed that the total mass summation of silicon, magnetite and aluminum (SiO2 + Fe2O3+ A12O3) is about 79.52 wt. % whereas the amount of calcium oxide is less than 10%. TGA curves showed that the sample of the more thermal stability was the composite that contains the highest amount of fly ash (50 wt.%). For all the samples, the dielectric constant and the dielectric loss were increasing by decreasing the applied frequencies while they were decreasing by increasing the temperatures. Also, increasing the fly ash content in the blend improved the ac conductivity up to a content of 40 wt.% then it decreased. The values of the real part of the electrical modulus (M') did not equal to zero at low frequencies and high temperature. Therefore, it is expected that the electrode polarization may take place for the all samples.