Space Charge Studies in LDPE Using Combined Isothermal and Non-isothermal Current Measurements

Using a recently developed procedure combining isothermal and non-isothermal current measurements space charge trapping and transport in LDPE was successfully studied. Unaged, thermally and electrically aged samples were investigated. The samples were conditioned before each measurement in order to obtain reproducible results. In the non-isothermal measurements appeared a broad peak (40°C to 50°C) that was possible to decompose into two or three peaks (35, 45 and 65°C). At even higher temperature another peak was sometimes present (85°C) depending on the prior sample conditioning. The space charge is trapped near the surface in deep traps (maximum depth of ≈15 μm). Relaxation times, mobilities and activation energies have been calculated for different charging/discharging conditions. For unaged samples the reproducibility of the results was poor while for the aged polyethylene it was quite good, meaning that aging helps conditioning. In the electrically aged LDPE there is a decrease of conductivity and the broad peak of the non-isothermal spectra shows a slight shift towards higher temperatures when compared with the data found in the thermally aged polymer.