A method for correlating charge traps of polypropylene to its morphology

A method for differentiating charge traps in amorphous parts from those in crystalline parts of crystalline polymers was proposed and applied it to polypropylene (PP) charge traps. The proposed method is combined use of two techniques: organic solvent vapor-induced charge decay (OSVICD) and partial neutralization (PN), slight recharging with the counter corona charges. From thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectra of OSVICD- and PN-treated PP, the shallow and deep charge traps were correlated to the trap sites existing in the amorphous and crystalline regions of PP, respectively. From TSC spectra of PN-treated PP, it was found that in the surface region the ratio of charges existed in the deep traps to those in the shallow ones was about 87% while in the bulk region it was 48%. This fact is consistent with crystalline-rich surface nature of the sample films, which was revealed by the usual transmission and ATR infrared spectroscopic analyses.