Chemical cross linking versus high energy electron beam cross linking of HDPE: electrical properties study

Cross linking of high density polyethylene (HDPE) was first performed via high energy 10 Mev electron beam (EB) irradiation. HDPE was also cross linked with Dicumyle peroxide (DCP).The gel content of samples was determined by solvent extraction. Degree of cross linking was evaluated by hot set apparatus; as well .In order to clarify the effect of nature of cross linking, correlation of electrical properties such as volume resistively, dielectric constant, dielectric strength with the type of cross linking system was made. It was found that, in the same amount of gel content, electrical properties of samples cross linked by the two methods, differed.