The role of electrodes in conduction and breakdown phenomena in solid dielectrics

It is hoped that further attention will be given to the molecular processes initiated at electrodes, since it is clear from examination of breakdown pathways that these are~in the early stages, both molecular in dimension and associated with neighbouring metal electrodes. The importance of considering the electrochemistry of the likely processes on a molecular scale cannot be overstressed. For too long macroscopic physical models have been employed to explain what must be processes of free-radical electrochemistry of an intense kind. The present contribution concentrates on the molecular ion states involved but much more needs to be known about charge transfer at interfaces, whether they be at the electrode boundaries or at interior interfaces within the polymeric dielectrics.