Electrical properties of EVA/LDPE blends irradiated by high energy electron beam

Abstract

A series of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) blends with different amounts of poly(ethylene-vinyl acetate) (EVA) was prepared and irradiated with 10 MeV electron beam in the range of 50−380 kGy at room temperature in air. Some electrical properties of the blends such as surface and volume resistance, breakdown voltage, permittivity and loss factor were studied as a function of the EVA content and the radiation dose. It was revealed that the surface resistance and volume resistivity of the blends reach a maximum at a 170 kGy dose of radiation and 30 wt% of EVA. There is no considerable change at breakdown voltage permittivity and loss factor of the irradiated samples; however, the permittivity and the loss factor of the blends increase significantly with increasing amount of EVA contents.