Experiment and simulation of space charge suppression in LDPE/MgO nanocomposite under external DC electric field

In this paper, space charge dynamics under DC electric field of 100 kV/mm in low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and its nanocomposite containing a small amount of MgO nanoparticles were measured using an improved pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) system. Unlike negative packet-like space charge accumulating in LDPE films, no remarkable space charge was observed in LDPE/MgO nanocomposite films, which indicated that the introduction of MgO nanoparticles played a key role on the space charge suppression. Different with current qualitative models, this paper describes space charge suppression on the basis of simulation using the bipolar charge transport model, which featured bipolar charges injection, transport, trapping, recombination, and extraction process. It was shown from the simulation that trap depth, trap concentration, local electric field and charge injection barrier height were all significant factors on the space charge suppression process. A deeper trap depth in LDPE/MgO nanocomposites made it easier for traps to capture mobile carriers. And a larger trap concentration effectively slowed down the whole carrier movement although there seemed a trap concentration threshold less than 30 Cm-3, above which this effect became slight. In addition, both the high permittivity of LDPE/MgO nanocomposites and low local electric field in the vicinity of cathode led to a larger injection barrier height based on the Schottky injection law, which would tremendously block the charge injection. At last, the suppression mechanism of space charge formation in the LDPE/MgO nanocomposites is presented. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.