The influence of ions on the thermally stimulated discharge current spectra of water-treed additive-free low-density polyethylene

The effects of water treeing on steady state dc currents and thermally stimulated discharge current spectra (TSDC) of additive-free low density polyethylene (LDPE) were studied using heavily water-treed material in solutions of LiCl, LiCl plus HCl, MnCl₂ and FeCl ₃. Significant changes in the dc conductivity of treed samples are attributed to the effects of ions. For such samples, graphs of the logarithm of current versus inverse temperature show three distinct linear regions. The transition temperatures demarcating these regions appear to correlate with those reported for thermal relaxations. TSDC spectra of water-treed samples show a dependence on both the ionic solutions used and on the poling conditions. For LiCl treed samples, twin peaks in the TSDC spectra were produced only under specific poling conditions. These peaks may be correlated with thermal relaxations observed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The melting point temperature and the melting peak area derived from DSC spectra were reduced by treeing