Degradation Study of ZnO Reinforced Polyamide Nanocomposites Under Accelerated UV-A Exposure for Insulation Applications

Degradation Study of ZnO Reinforced Polyamide Nanocomposites Under Accelerated UV-A Exposure for Insulation Applications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Degradation Study of ZnO Reinforced Polyamide Nanocomposites Under Accelerated UV-A Exposure for Insulation Applications Nafees Ahmad, Abraiz Khattak, Salman Khan, Numan Ahmed, Nakhal Mumtaz, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5275498/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This research article investigates the effects of ultraviolet (UV-A) radiation and DC electrical stress on the performance of novel polyamide (PA66) nanocomposite insulators with 0 wt. % (PA0), 1 wt. % (PA1), 3 wt. % (PA3), 5 wt. % (PA5), and 7 wt. % (PA7) of ZnO nanofillers loading. A specialized UV-A chamber has been used to provide a controlled weathering environment in which the UV intensity was 5 mW/m2 and the applied DC stress was 4 kV. The performance of the nanocomposite is being investigated after each cycle of 100 hours with total aging time of 200 hours using different characterization techniques. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) are being used to confirm the presence of ZnO. The samples with 3 wt. % and 5 wt. % showed better dispersion of the nano filler in the polymer matrix. The surface hydrophobicity is being evaluated using standard STRI technique and contact angle measurements, and it is showing a decreasing trend with UV-A accelerated aging. The contact angle of unaged PA1 was the better among the samples, with the value of 98.40º. FTIR analysis is being used to investigate functional group studies and changes in chemical bonding. The C=O functional group is being oxidized in all the samples at wavenumber 1728.04 cm-1. There was only a change of 33% in this functional group in case of PA3 which is better than the other samples after the aging. Furthermore, optical microscopy (OM) and visual inspection are being performed to detect any material loss and voids. PA1 and PA3 showed relatively smooth surface after the aging of 100h and 200h while other samples showed material deterioration. AC Leakage current analysis and UV-Vis spectroscopy have been conducted to evaluate the band gap of the nanocomposites and their electrical properties, respectively. The sample PA1 has the highest leakage current after 200h that is 8.93% increase while the PA3 has the least increase in LC current i.e 6.91%. The findings show that by reinforcing polyamide with ZnO nanofiller, the aging and insulating properties can be improved which make them more resistant to effects of UV-A radiation in outdoor environments and specifically for cable insulation applications. The sample PA3 exhibited relatively better properties and characteristics compared to the other samples. Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering Physical sciences/Energy science and technology Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Materials science Accelerated Aging Characterization DC Stress Nanocomposites Insulators UV-A Stress Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 09 Jan, 2025 Reviews received at journal 09 Jan, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Dec, 2024 Reviews received at journal 23 Nov, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Nov, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 09 Nov, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Nov, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 04 Nov, 2024 Editor invited by journal 29 Oct, 2024 Submission checks completed at journal 29 Oct, 2024 First submitted to journal 16 Oct, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5275498","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":374795413,"identity":"cae640b5-41c8-46e6-8c83-3dde046f5f99","order_by":0,"name":"Nafees Ahmad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nafees","middleName":"","lastName":"Ahmad","suffix":""},{"id":374795414,"identity":"e038319b-8049-4212-8646-ac4fd1d38f38","order_by":1,"name":"Abraiz 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The findings show that by reinforcing polyamide with ZnO nanofiller, the aging and insulating properties can be improved which make them more resistant to effects of UV-A radiation in outdoor environments and specifically for cable insulation applications. The sample PA3 exhibited relatively better properties and characteristics compared to the other samples.","manuscriptTitle":"Degradation Study of ZnO Reinforced Polyamide Nanocomposites Under Accelerated UV-A Exposure for Insulation Applications","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-11-08 07:59:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5275498/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-01-09T10:39:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-01-09T08:55:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"121922250040892639163729585270900894860","date":"2024-12-18T11:25:05+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-11-23T11:01:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"128408401026611598971905886036461473506","date":"2024-11-23T07:03:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"76658271103325886645562343790676972796","date":"2024-11-09T06:01:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-11-08T09:26:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-11-04T16:10:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2024-10-29T11:58:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-10-29T11:48:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2024-10-16T11:35:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"516c9f0b-31b9-4366-9641-5c69c168cfe7","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 8th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":39893313,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering/Electrical and electronic engineering"},{"id":39893314,"name":"Physical sciences/Energy science and technology"},{"id":39893315,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":39893316,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-02-04T10:53:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-11-08 07:59:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5275498","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5275498","identity":"rs-5275498","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}