Estimation of surface degradation under immersion plasma by surface potential decay method [polymer outdoor insulation applications]

The surface potential decay (SPD) method is frequently used to investigate the properties of conduction and the electrostatic phenomena on polymer surfaces. Generally, the influence of the hydrophobicity change on the SPD is not considered. However, this parameter must be taken into account when using this method to study the aging of materials, in particular for insulating polymers used for outdoor insulation. To this end, we have analyzed by using the SPD, the hydrophobicity recovery of silicone rubber subjected previously to a plasma treatment which changes its wettability. The conclusions of this work clearly show the influence of hydrophobicity recovery on the SPD behavior.