<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "http://dtd.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd">
<article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en" article-type="research article">
 <front>
  <journal-meta>
   <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">
    msa
   </journal-id>
   <journal-title-group>
    <journal-title>
     Materials Sciences and Applications
    </journal-title>
   </journal-title-group>
   <issn pub-type="epub">
    2153-117X
   </issn>
   <issn publication-format="print">
    2153-1188
   </issn>
   <publisher>
    <publisher-name>
     Scientific Research Publishing
    </publisher-name>
   </publisher>
  </journal-meta>
  <article-meta>
   <article-id pub-id-type="doi">
    10.4236/msa.2025.165014
   </article-id>
   <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">
    msa-142704
   </article-id>
   <article-categories>
    <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
     <subject>
      Articles
     </subject>
    </subj-group>
    <subj-group subj-group-type="Discipline-v2">
     <subject>
      Chemistry 
     </subject>
     <subject>
       Materials Science
     </subject>
    </subj-group>
   </article-categories>
   <title-group>
    Optimization and Mechanism Study on Electrothermal Performance of Polypropylene/Antioxidant Composite Systems Based on Molecular Dynamics
   </title-group>
   <contrib-group>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Feng
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Bin
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"> 
      <sup>1</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Jixiang
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Feng
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"> 
      <sup>1</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Shaobo
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Liu
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"> 
      <sup>1</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Fangwei
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Liang
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2"> 
      <sup>2</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Zhensheng
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Tan
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"> 
      <sup>1</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
    <contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple">
     <name name-style="western">
      <surname>
       Denghui
      </surname>
      <given-names>
       Jiang
      </given-names>
     </name> 
     <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1"> 
      <sup>1</sup>
     </xref>
    </contrib>
   </contrib-group> 
   <aff id="aff1">
    <addr-line>
     aSchool of Physics and Electronic Science, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, China
    </addr-line> 
   </aff> 
   <aff id="aff2">
    <addr-line>
     aTsinghua University, State Key Laboratory of Power System Operation and Control, Beijing, China
    </addr-line> 
   </aff> 
   <pub-date pub-type="epub">
    <day>
     15
    </day> 
    <month>
     05
    </month>
    <year>
     2025
    </year>
   </pub-date> 
   <volume>
    16
   </volume> 
   <issue>
    05
   </issue>
   <fpage>
    239
   </fpage>
   <lpage>
    251
   </lpage>
   <history>
    <date date-type="received">
     <day>
      30,
     </day>
     <month>
      March
     </month>
     <year>
      2025
     </year>
    </date>
    <date date-type="published">
     <day>
      18,
     </day>
     <month>
      March
     </month>
     <year>
      2025
     </year> 
    </date> 
    <date date-type="accepted">
     <day>
      18,
     </day>
     <month>
      May
     </month>
     <year>
      2025
     </year> 
    </date>
   </history>
   <permissions>
    <copyright-statement>
     © Copyright 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. 
    </copyright-statement>
    <copyright-year>
     2014
    </copyright-year>
    <license>
     <license-p>
      This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
     </license-p>
    </license>
   </permissions>
   <abstract>
    Polypropylene (PP) emerges as a promising power cable insulation material, with its electrothermal performance fundamentally determining application potential and operational durability. Meanwhile, antioxidants, renowned for their ability to enhancing thermal stability and insulating performance of polyolefins, offer a viable strategy for optimizing PP. Thus, this study establishes molecular dynamics models for PP/antioxidant systems with antioxidant type as a variable, to investigate the microstructural evolution and electrothermal properties of antioxidant-modified PP across different temperatures. The simulation results indicate that compared to PP neat system, PP/AO736 system shows a 26K increase in glass transition temperature, a 13.88% reduction in relative dielectric constant, and a 37.6% enhancement in breakdown strength at 400 K. Besides, PP/HP system demonstrates advantages in regulating heat transfer, with a 33.1% improvement in thermal conductivity at 300 K. These findings provide methodological guidance for improving the electrical and thermal properties of PP.
   </abstract>
   <kwd-group> 
    <kwd>
     Polypropylene
    </kwd> 
    <kwd>
      Molecular Dynamics
    </kwd> 
    <kwd>
      Antioxidant
    </kwd> 
    <kwd>
      Electrothermal Performance
    </kwd>
   </kwd-group>
  </article-meta>
 </front>
 <body>
  <sec id="s1">
   <title>1. Introduction</title>
   <p>Polypropylene (PP), a polymer material with excellent electrical insulation performance, has been extensively utilized in power cables systems <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-1">
     [1]
    </xref>. However, PP exhibit susceptibility to oxidative degradation and limited thermal stability. Under high electric field or elevated-temperature conditions, substantial space charge accumulates within PP, triggering irreversible electrical treeing failure and consequently degrading the dependability of power cables. Notably, when the ambient temperature exceeds 380 K, the conductive loss of PP shows an exponential ascent, accompanied by a progressive decline in breakdown strength. This nonlinear deterioration characteristics cause a bottleneck issue that restricts the application of PP in ultra-high voltage direct current (DC) cables <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-2">
     [2]
    </xref>. Therefore, the development of modified PP systems with synergistic electrical and thermal stability has become an important technological pathway for enhancing the reliability of power cables.</p>
   <p>In recent years, scholars have carried out in-depth research on the modification of PP. Demirbas et al. achieved a tensile strength of 20.1 MPa by incorporating 2.5% SiO₂ into PP <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-3">
     [3]
    </xref>. Guo et al. added a β-nucleating agent to PP, significantly enhancing its mechanical properties; the tensile strength and impact resistance were increased by 54% and 53%, respectively <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-4">
     [4]
    </xref>. Li et al. introduced high dielectric barium strontium titanate (BST) into the PP matrix, observing that when the BST content reached 20%, the interfacial charge density of composite material decreased to 3.83×10<sup>−</sup>⁵ C/m<sup>2</sup> <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-5">
     [5]
    </xref>. Yokoi et al. modified PP by grafting carboxylic acid, resulting in a 56% increase in tensile strength, although the tensile modulus decreased by 34% <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-6">
     [6]
    </xref>. Chen et al. reported that the fracture energy of maleic anhydride-modified PP could reach up to 14.82 KJ/m<sup>2</sup> <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-7">
     [7]
    </xref>. Lee et al. blended isotactic PP with a small amount of polyvinylidene fluoride via melt mixing, demonstrating that DC breakdown voltage of the modified material at 298 K and 383 K was 110% and 149% higher than that of PP neat, respectively <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-8">
     [8]
    </xref>. Guo et al. filled PP with carbon nanotubes functionalized with eight functional groups, increasing the melting temperature of composite by 88.85 K <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-9">
     [9]
    </xref>. Despite significant advancements in optimizing mechanical property or independently enhancing electrical or thermal properties, there is an obvious gap in research on synergistic electrothermal enhancement.</p>
   <p>Molecular dynamics (MD) serves as a core technology for analyzing the property of polymer composites, effectively addressing the high-cost and time-consuming limitations inherent in conventional trial-and-error experimental approaches <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-10">
     [10]
    </xref>. It is difficult to directly observe microstructural evolution within PP, whereas MD simulations, through dynamic tracking of atomic-scale, can not only reveal the intrinsic rules in governing the microscopic behavior of material, but also offer theoretical guidance for the design of high-performance composites.</p>
   <p>Current investigations on the enhancement of electrical performance of PP insulation materials primarily focus on modification using inorganic nanoparticles. However, in practical engineering applications, inorganic nanofillers tend to induce agglomeration, thereby deteriorating the dielectric property of PP and significantly limiting their practical use in industrial settings. In contrast, organic small molecule additives exhibit great advantages in the modification of PP, due to their excellent dispersion property and customizable functional groups <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-11">
     [11]
    </xref>. Antioxidants have shown positive effect in enhancing the stability of polyolefin materials, such as polyethylene <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-12">
     [12]
    </xref>. Nevertheless, there has been no report on the utilization of antioxidant to modify PP to achieve synergistic improvements in both electrical and thermal performance.</p>
   <p>Therefore, in this paper, MD simulations are employed to construct PP composite systems, which incorporate three typical antioxidants, i.e., 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate (AO1010), 4,4′-thiobis-2-methyl-6-tert-butylphenol (AO736), and 3,5-Di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (HP). Specifically, four comparative models are established: PP neat, PP/AO1010, PP/AO736, and PP/HP. Besides, the performance parameters, including glass transition temperature (T<sub>g</sub>), thermal conductivity (λ), relative dielectric constant (ε<sub>r</sub>), and breakdown strength (E<sub>b</sub>) of PP, are obtained. Furthermore, to understand the mechanisms underlying the performance changes, the free volume fraction is analyzed at the microscopic level.</p>
  </sec><sec id="s2">
   <title>2. Calculation Models and Methods</title>
   <p>MD simulations are performed using the COMPASS forcefield, with temperature and pressure regulated via Nose-Hoover and Berendsen method, respectively. In the simulation, the system pressure and time step are set to 1 × 10<sup>−</sup><sup>4</sup> GPa and 1 fs, respectively; electrostatic and van der Waals interactions are calculated through Ewald summation and Atom-Based methods, respectively.</p>
   <sec id="s2_1">
    <title>2.1. Modeling</title>
    <p>This paper uses Materials Studio (MS) software to establish simulation models. The modeling process is illustrated in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig1">
      Figure 1
     </xref>, and the main steps are described as follows:</p>
    <fig id="fig1" position="float">
     <label>Figure 1</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 1. Modeling process.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId19.jpeg?20250521032142" />
    </fig>
    <p>(i) Constructing the molecular conformation of isotactic PP, AO1010, AO736, and HP. To balance computational complexity and efficiency, the degree of polymerization for single PP chain is set to 40. Subsequently, the Geometry Optimization function in the Forcite module is employed to optimize their geometries. In this process, the energy convergence accuracy and maximum iteration are set to 2.0 × 10<sup>−</sup><sup>5</sup> kcal/mol and 5000, respectively, and the optimization algorithm choose Smart.</p>
    <p>(ii) Determining the PP matrix conformation with the lowest energy. A three-dimensional amorphous structure consisting of 20 PP chains is designed using the Amorphous Cell (AC) module, and a total of 10 conformations are generated. Then, the Energy function in the Forcite module is used to calculate the energy of each conformation, and the one with the lowest energy is selected as the initial structure, whose density simulated is 0.83 g/cm<sup>3</sup>, showing an error of only 6.74% when compared to the experimentally measured value of 0.89 g/cm<sup>3</sup> <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-13">
      [13]
     </xref>. In this process, the initial density and temperature are set to 0.6 g/cm<sup>3</sup> and 300 K, respectively.</p>
    <p>(iii) Constructing PP/antioxidant simulation models. The antioxidants are incorporated into the PP matrix via the Construction function in AC module. Consequently, four simulation models are established: PP neat, PP/AO1010, PP/AO736, and PP/HP. It is worth noting that the mass fraction of antioxidant is maintained at approximately 3.2%.</p>
   </sec>
   <sec id="s2_2">
    <title>2.2. Optimization Method</title>
    <p>To eliminate internal stresses, the Geometry Optimization function in the Forcite module is employed to optimize the structure to minimize the energy of PP/antioxidant systems, with a maximum iteration step of 50,000. All models are dynamically refined for 500 ps, using the NVT ensemble at 300 K for initial equilibration and the NPT ensemble at 300 K for the second equilibration. Subsequently, an annealing process from 300 K to 800 K is implemented in NVT ensemble for 100 cycles, with each cycle consisting of 500 steps and a step size of 1 fs. Afterwards, the Dynamics function in the Forcite module is used to carry out volume relaxation, with the ensemble NPT, the temperature 300 K, and the relaxation time 100 ps. Ultimately, an amorphous PP/antioxidant model with appropriate density is obtained. The model is deemed physically representative when the density and energy of system maintains equilibrium in the MD relaxation treatment.</p>
   </sec>
  </sec><sec id="s3">
   <title>3. Calculation and Analysis of Thermal Properties</title>
   <sec id="s3_1">
    <title>3.1. Glass Transition Temperature</title>
    <p>The macroscopic properties of polymers are strongly correlated with their microscopic structures <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-14">
      [14]
     </xref>. As a critical parameter for characterizing the thermodynamic behavior, T<sub>g</sub> corresponds to the lowest temperature at which molecular chains begin to move. When the temperature exceeds T<sub>g</sub>, PP transitions from the glassy state to the high elastic state, accompanied by substantial changes in thermal and electrical properties, especially near T<sub>g</sub>.</p>
    <fig id="fig2" position="float">
     <label>Figure 2</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 2. Glass transition temperature.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId20.jpeg?20250521032145" />
    </fig>
    <p>T<sub>g</sub> is determined by analyzing the temperature-specific volume curves (see <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig2">
      Figure 2
     </xref>). The simulated T<sub>g</sub> of PP neat system is 261 K, which closely matches the experimentally reported range of 238 - 266 K <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-12">
      [12]
     </xref>, thereby verifying the accuracy of our simulation model. Obviously, introduction of three additives-AO1010, AO736, and HP-elevates T<sub>g</sub> of PP to 270 K, 287 K, and 277 K, respectively, corresponding to the increases of 9 K, 26 K, and 16 K in comparison to PP neat.</p>
    <p>On one hand, T<sub>g</sub> is affected by the free volume fraction (FFV). According to free volume theory, the total volume of material is divided into two parts: free volume (V<sub>F</sub>), representing the unoccupied space by molecular chains, and occupied volume (V<sub>O</sub>), corresponding to the region actually occupied by molecular chains <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-9">
      [9]
     </xref>. The distribution of V<sub>F</sub> of neat PP in the temperature range of 200 - 400 K is illustrated in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig3">
      Figure 3
     </xref>, where the gray region signifies the surface area and the blue region denotes the V<sub>F</sub>. In this section, FFV is introduced to compare the relative size of V<sub>F</sub>. Its calculation formula is provided as follows <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-9">
      [9]
     </xref>:</p>
    <p>
     <math display="inline" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mrow> 
       <mtext>
         FFV 
       </mtext> 
       <mo>
         = 
       </mo> 
       <mfrac> 
        <mrow> 
         <msub> 
          <mi>
            V 
          </mi> 
          <mtext>
            F 
          </mtext> 
         </msub> 
        </mrow> 
        <mrow> 
         <msub> 
          <mi>
            V 
          </mi> 
          <mtext>
            F 
          </mtext> 
         </msub> 
         <mo>
           + 
         </mo> 
         <msub> 
          <mi>
            V 
          </mi> 
          <mtext>
            O 
          </mtext> 
         </msub> 
        </mrow> 
       </mfrac> 
       <mo>
         × 
       </mo> 
       <mn>
         100 
       </mn> 
       <mtext>
         % 
       </mtext> 
      </mrow> 
     </math> (1)</p>
    <fig id="fig3" position="float">
     <label>Figure 3</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 3. Free volume distribution of neat PP at different temperatures. (a) 200 K, (b) 250 K, (c) 300 K, (d) 350 K, (e) 400 K.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId23.jpeg?20250521032146" />
    </fig>
    <p>FFV of the four system is listed in <xref ref-type="table" rid="table1">
      Table 1
     </xref>. The composite systems exhibit lower FFV than that of PP neat system. This is attributed to enhanced intermolecular interactions induced by polar functional groups (e.g., hydroxyl groups). These interactions promote a more compact spatial arrangement of PP chains and restrict chains mobility, thereby elevating T<sub>g</sub> of composite systems.</p>
    <p>On the other hand, T<sub>g</sub> is influenced by the molecular structure of antioxidants significantly. Specifically, the thiol group of AO736 captures free radicals and forms stable compounds, thereby terminating free radical chain reactions and enhancing antioxidant performance. In contrast, AO1010 has a large molecular structure that disrupts the continuity of hydrogen bond network, and HP contains a single phenol structure that limits hydrogen bond density. This is the reason why AO736 induces the most significant increase in T<sub>g</sub> among the three composite systems.</p>
    <p>Table 1. FFV of four systems at different temperatures.</p>
    <table class="MsoTableGrid custom-table" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 
     <tr> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td aright" width="37.14%"><p style="text-align:right">Temperature (K)</p><p style="text-align:left">System</p><p style="text-align:left">FFV (%)</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">200</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">250</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">300</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">350</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-bottom-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">400</p></td> 
     </tr> 
     <tr> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="37.14%"><p style="text-align:center">PP</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">9.15</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">10.86</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">13.41</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">14.59</p></td> 
      <td class="custom-top-td acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">18.76</p></td> 
     </tr> 
     <tr> 
      <td class="acenter" width="37.14%"><p style="text-align:center">PP/AO1010</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">8.76</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">10.69</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">11.84</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">13.94</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">17.62</p></td> 
     </tr> 
     <tr> 
      <td class="acenter" width="37.14%"><p style="text-align:center">PP/AO736</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">8.05</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">9.76</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">10.67</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">12.79</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">16.27</p></td> 
     </tr> 
     <tr> 
      <td class="acenter" width="37.14%"><p style="text-align:center">PP/HP</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">8.42</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">9.94</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">11.47</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">13.02</p></td> 
      <td class="acenter" width="12.57%"><p style="text-align:center">16.02</p></td> 
     </tr> 
    </table>
   </sec>
   <sec id="s3_2">
    <title>3.2. Thermal Conductivity</title>
    <p>λ, a critical property governing heat transfer in materials, determines their heat dissipation capacity and thermal stability. Improving λ of PP can effectively suppresses the operating temperature rise rate and prevents thermal aging to extend its service life. λ of PP is calculated via the reverse nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (RNEMD) method <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-15">
      [15]
     </xref>. In the simulation, the computational domain is partitioned into 40 equidistant slabs along the z-axis (see <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig4">
      Figure 4
     </xref>, where +ΔE represents the energy transfer from hot to cold regions), and the terminal and central slabs are set as heat source and cold source, respectively. Through periodic momentum exchange between the lowest-energy particle in the heat sources and the highest-energy particle in the cold sources, the system attains equilibrium after a specific number of exchanges. This process can establish a steady-state heat flow under the nonequilibrium conditions, and ultimately the model will achieve a stable temperature gradient.</p>
    <p>
     <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig5">
      Figure 5
     </xref> illustrates the simulated λ of four systems across the temperature span of 270 - 450 K. λ of PP neat system ranges from 0.103 to 0.139 W/(m·K). The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data reported in <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-16">
      [16]
     </xref>, therefore validating the reliability of our simulation model. All systems display a near-linear relationships between λ and temperature (T). At 300 K, λ of PP/AO1010, PP/AO736, and PP/HP systems increase by 10.9%, 17.6%, and 33.1%, respectively, when compared to PP neat. This is attributed to that antioxidants</p>
    <fig id="fig4" position="float">
     <label>Figure 4</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 4. Schematic diagram of RNEMD method.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId24.jpeg?20250521032147" />
    </fig>
    <fig id="fig5" position="float">
     <label>Figure 5</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 5. Thermal conductivity.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId25.jpeg?20250521032147" />
    </fig>
    <p>inhibit oxidation reactions, maintain the structure stability of PP molecules, and promote the formation of phonon transport pathways. In comparison with AO1010, AO736 and HP can further optimize the interfacial bonding between fillers and matrix through chemical interactions due to containing reactive functional groups; especially, HP shows the most superior λ enhancement due to its molecular characteristics, such as low molecular weight, high dispersibility, inducing heterogeneous nucleation in the PP matrix.</p>
   </sec>
  </sec><sec id="s4">
   <title>4. Calculation and Analysis of Electrical Properties</title>
   <sec id="s4_1">
    <title>4.1. Relative Dielectric Constant</title>
    <p>ε<sub>r</sub> describes the dielectric behavior of insulation materials, and it can reflect their polarization characteristics under the external electric field <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-17">
      [17]
     </xref>.</p>
    <p>
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            </mn> 
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          </mtd> 
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        </mtable> 
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     </math> (2)</p>
    <p>where M represents the dipole moment of system at a time step, N denotes the total time step, the physical parameters V, T, k<sub>B</sub>, and ε<sub>0</sub> are defined as system volume, thermodynamic temperature, Boltzmann constant, and vacuum dielectric constant, respectively.</p>
    <p>The simulated ε<sub>r</sub> is presented in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig6">
      Figure 6
     </xref>. ε<sub>r</sub> of PP neat system is 2.341, exhibiting less than 5% deviation from the experimental values (2.2 - 2.5) reported in <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-18">
      [18]
     </xref>, thus validating the reliability of our simulation model. Moreover, it can be observed that composite systems show a decrease ε<sub>r</sub>, moreover, PP/AO736 demonstrates the lowest ε<sub>r</sub> (13.88% reduction versus PP neat). This is attributed to their molecular interaction mechanisms: (i) Multiple phenolic hydroxyl groups of AO1010 lead to interfacial polarization through charge accumulation. (ii) Aldehyde groups of HP can participate in neutralization reactions, but it still exhibits strong polarity. (iii) Thioether groups of AO736 exhibit great effects on scavenging radicals and hydrogen peroxide, resulting in a decrease in charge carrier density and suppression of space charge accumulation.</p>
    <fig id="fig6" position="float">
     <label>Figure 6</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 6. Relative dielectric constant.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId28.jpeg?20250521032149" />
    </fig>
   </sec>
   <sec id="s4_2">
    <title>4.2. Breakdown Strength</title>
    <p>E<sub>b</sub> refers to the threshold electric field at which a material loses capability of electrical insulation and undergoes electrical breakdown. Considering the inherent constraints of MD algorithms, it is difficult to accurately capture the cross-scale dynamic evolution. Therefore, in this section, E<sub>b</sub> is calculated using the electro-mechanical breakdown theoretical framework <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-19">
      [19]
     </xref>.</p>
    <p>Young’s modulus (E) determines their processability and provides a quantitative measure of material rigidity and strength. It represents the intrinsic ability of a material to resist elastic deformation under stress <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-20">
      [20]
     </xref>. We use the quasi-static constant strain method to calculate E across the temperature range of 180 - 480 K. This computational approach fundamentally relies on the constitutive relationship derived from continuum mechanics principles. The constitutive behavior of PP is governed by the framework of continuum mechanics, with its stress-strain relationship described by the generalized Hooke’s law <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-21">
      [21]
     </xref></p>
    <p>
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     </math> (3)</p>
    <p>where C<sub>ij</sub> denotes the elastic tensors, σ<sub>i</sub> represents the engineering stress, and ε<sub>j</sub> signifies the engineering strain. In the simulation, the amorphous PP can be approximated as an isotropic material <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-22">
      [22]
     </xref>, thus E can be given by</p>
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             = 
           </mo> 
           <mfrac> 
            <mn>
              1 
            </mn> 
            <mn>
              3 
            </mn> 
           </mfrac> 
           <mrow> 
            <mo>
              ( 
            </mo> 
            <mrow> 
             <msub> 
              <mi>
                C 
              </mi> 
              <mrow> 
               <mn>
                 44 
               </mn> 
              </mrow> 
             </msub> 
             <mo>
               + 
             </mo> 
             <msub> 
              <mi>
                C 
              </mi> 
              <mrow> 
               <mn>
                 55 
               </mn> 
              </mrow> 
             </msub> 
             <mo>
               + 
             </mo> 
             <msub> 
              <mi>
                C 
              </mi> 
              <mrow> 
               <mn>
                 66 
               </mn> 
              </mrow> 
             </msub> 
            </mrow> 
            <mo>
              ) 
            </mo> 
           </mrow> 
          </mtd> 
         </mtr> 
        </mtable> 
       </mrow> 
      </mrow> 
     </math> (4)</p>
    <p>where λ and μ are Lame constant. As illustrated in <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig7">
      Figure 7
     </xref>, E of all systems exhibit a pronounced temperature dependence. When the temperature is below T<sub>g</sub>, the restricted molecular chain results in V<sub>F</sub> compression, promoting a packed arrangement of PP chains. As the temperature exceeds T<sub>g</sub>, the activation of molecular chain motion drives V<sub>F</sub> expansion, causing a rapid decrease in E. At 300 K, E of PP/AO1010, PP/AO736, and PP/HP systems are 2.70 GPa, 2.94 GPa, and 3.06 GPa, respectively, resulting in relative deviations of −4.93%, +3.52%, and +7.75% when compared to the PP neat system (2.84 GPa). AO1010 reduces the crystallinity of PP, thereby lowering its rigidity, whereas HP has the opposite effect. In contrast, AO736 improves rigidity via strengthening intermolecular interactions.</p>
    <fig id="fig7" position="float">
     <label>Figure 7</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 7. Young’s modulus.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId33.jpeg?20250521032150" />
    </fig>
    <p>According to the electro-mechanical breakdown theory <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-19">
      [19]
     </xref>, E<sub>b</sub> of PP can be approximately determined by</p>
    <p>
     <math display="inline" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mrow> 
       <msub> 
        <mi>
          E 
        </mi> 
        <mtext>
          b 
        </mtext> 
       </msub> 
       <mo>
         = 
       </mo> 
       <msup> 
        <mrow> 
         <mrow> 
          <mo>
            ( 
          </mo> 
          <mrow> 
           <mfrac> 
            <mi>
              E 
            </mi> 
            <mrow> 
             <msub> 
              <mi>
                ε 
              </mi> 
              <mn>
                0 
              </mn> 
             </msub> 
             <msub> 
              <mi>
                ε 
              </mi> 
              <mi>
                r 
              </mi> 
             </msub> 
            </mrow> 
           </mfrac> 
          </mrow> 
          <mo>
            ) 
          </mo> 
         </mrow> 
        </mrow> 
        <mrow> 
         <mfrac> 
          <mn>
            1 
          </mn> 
          <mn>
            2 
          </mn> 
         </mfrac> 
        </mrow> 
       </msup> 
      </mrow> 
     </math> (5)</p>
    <p>
     <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig8">
      Figure 8
     </xref> presents the calculated E<sub>b</sub> at different temperatures. At 300K, E<sub>b</sub> of PP neat is 397.1 kV/mm, with a relative error of less than 4.6% compared to the experimental value 416 kV/mm <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="scirp.142704-8">
      [8]
     </xref>. A universal decrease in E<sub>b</sub> with rising temperature is observed in all systems, among which the PP/AO736 system exhibits the slowest rate of decline. Remarkably, E<sub>b</sub> of four systems exhibit minimal variation at low temperatures (250 - 350 K). However, when the temperature exceeds 350 K, PP/AO736 system maintains superior electrical insulation property, achieving a 37.6% enhancement in E<sub>b</sub> compared to that of neat PP at 400 K. Under elevated temperatures, the phenolic hydroxyl group in AO1010 is oxidized to a quinone structure, losing its free radical scavenging ability and thereby inducing thermal breakdown, and the aldehyde group in HP accelerates volatility, resulting in the decline of the neutralization efficiency of polar groups. By contrast, the thioether group in AO736 retains high reactivity, continuously decomposes hydroperoxides to suppress oxidation reactions, thus delaying the thermal breakdown.</p>
    <fig id="fig8" position="float">
     <label>Figure 8</label>
     <caption>
      <title>Figure 8. Breakdown strength.</title>
     </caption>
     <graphic mimetype="image" position="float" xlink:type="simple" xlink:href="https://html.scirp.org/file/7703068-rId36.jpeg?20250521032151" />
    </fig>
   </sec>
  </sec><sec id="s5">
   <title>5. Conclusions</title>
  </sec><sec id="s6">
   <title>Acknowledgements Data</title>
   <p>This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52307157) and Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (No. 2025JJ90178).</p>
  </sec><sec id="s7">
   <title>Availability Statement</title>
   <p>Data will be made available on request.</p>
  </sec>
 </body><back>
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