Charge formation and decay in gamma-irradiated low density polyethylene

Chen, G., Davies, A. E. and Xi, B. (2000) Charge formation and decay in gamma-irradiated low density polyethylene. 6th International Conference on Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials, Xian Jiaotong Univiversity, Xi'an, China. 20 - 26 Jun 2000. pp. 443-446 .

Abstract

Radiation effects in polymeric materials have been studied for many years to understand various aspects of material behaviour and among these is the electrical response to irradiation. Recent work related particularly to the effects of irradiation on the electrical behaviour of low density polyethylene (LDPE has shown that a radiation environment can influence the thermally stimulated discharge current (TSDC) spectra in high temperature region, with more charge being found within the sample irradiated in air compared to that irradiated in nitrogen. The dc electrical conductivity of LDPE irradiated in air is significantly higher than that of material irradiated in nitrogen. It has been considered generally that space charge played a role in the above behaviour of irradiated material. This has been confirmed recently by measuring space charge distribution directly using either the laser induced pressure pulse technique or the pulsed electroacoustic technique. It has been found that a large amount of positive charges can be formed adjacent to the cathode if a dc electric stress is applied. In this paper we report the charge decay after the removal of the applied stress. It has been noticed that the charge decay is closely associated with the interfacial electric stress produced by charge itself. A linearly relationship is evident.

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