Charge Transport in LDPE Nanocomposites Part II-Computational Approach

Polymers (Basel). 2016 Mar 23;8(4):103. doi: 10.3390/polym8040103.

Abstract

A bipolar charge transport model is employed to investigate the remarkable reduction in dc conductivity of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) based material filled with uncoated nanofillers (reported in the first part of this work). The effect of temperature on charge transport is considered and the model outcomes are compared with measured conduction currents. The simulations reveal that the contribution of charge carrier recombination to the total transport process becomes more significant at elevated temperatures. Among the effects caused by the presence of nanoparticles, a reduced charge injection at electrodes has been found as the most essential one. Possible mechanisms for charge injection at different temperatures are therefore discussed.

Keywords: charge carrier mobility; charge injection; charge transport; dc conductivity; de-trapping; low-density polyethylene; nanocomposites; trapping.