Space Charge Measurement as a Diagnostic Tool to Monitor Ageing in Polymeric Materials

摘要

Charge dynamics in polymeric materials after aged under ac electric field using the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) technique is reported. The emphasis is placed on charge decay. The charge dynamics of the ac aged additive free low density polyethylene (LDPE) samples under dc bias differ from the sample without ac ageing, indicating changes brought in by ac ageing. It is believed that a slow decay rate of charge in the ac aged sample is related to the formation of deep traps in the material. However, chemical analysis by infrared spectroscope (FTIR) and Raman microscope reveals no significant chemical changes taken place in the bulk of the material after ac ageing. Further experiments on irradiated LDPE have revealed a similar behaviour, i.e. the charge decay is slower in irradiated samples than that of fresh sample. The findings presented clearly indicate that space charge measurement can be used as a diagnostic tool to monitor ageing in polymeric materials.