Exploring relationships between chemical species and electrical properties in cross-linked polyethylene

Molecular vibrational spectroscopies, including infrared, near-infrared and Raman, and optical UV-VIS spectroscopies providing electronic (colour) and molecular information, have been used to investigate several polymeric materials and extract the relationships between chemical composition, structure and physical characteristics by multivariate statistical analysis. With the appropriate use of spectroscopic microprobe methods it is possible to map these relationships spatially down to a resolution of less than one micron. In particular, these multivariate methods have been applied to studies of cross-linked polyethylene cable insulation materials with a view to exploring possible relationships between bulk and local chemical structure, and electrical properties. This paper will discuss some of these findings and demonstrate that it is possible to construct relational models between key characteristics that give us insight into the behaviour of complex dielectrics.