energies Article Electrical Properties of Polyethylene/Polypropylene Compounds for High-Voltage Insulation Sameh Ziad Ahmed Dabbak 1, Hazlee Azil Illias 1,* ID , Bee Chin Ang 2, Nurul Ain Abdul Latiff 1 and Mohamad Zul Hilmey Makmud 1,3,* ID 1 Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;
[email protected] (S.Z.A.D.);
[email protected] (N.A.A.L.) 2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia;
[email protected] 3 Complex of Science and Technology, Faculty of Science and Natural Resources, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Malaysia * Correspondence:
[email protected] (H.A.I.);
[email protected] (M.Z.H.M.); Tel.: +60-3-7967-4483 (H.A.I.) Received: 12 April 2018; Accepted: 30 May 2018; Published: 4 June 2018 Abstract: In high-voltage insulation systems, the most commonly used material is polymeric material because of its high dielectric strength, high resistivity, and low dielectric loss in addition to good chemical and mechanical properties. In this work, various polymer compounds were prepared, consisting of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), HDPE/PP, and LDPE/PP polymer blends. The relative permittivity and breakdown strength of each sample types were evaluated. In order to determine the physical properties of the prepared samples, the samples were also characterized using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results showed that the dielectric constant of PP increased with the increase of HDPE and LDPE content. The breakdown measurement data for all samples were analyzed using the cumulative probability plot of Weibull distribution.