TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Jingwen A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Nguyen, Quyet Doan A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - The influence of orthophosphoric-acid surface modification on charge-storage enhancement in polypropylene electrets JF - Journal of applied physics N2 - Bipolar electrets from polypropylene (PP) are essential, e.g., in electret air filters and in cellular-foam ferroelectrets. Therefore, the mechanism of surface-charge stability enhancement on PP electrets via orthophosphoric-acid surface treatment is investigated in detail. It is shown that the significant charge-stability enhancement can be mainly attributed to deeper surface traps originating from deposited chemicals and topographic features on the modified surfaces. Thermally stimulated discharge of chemically treated and non-treated PP films with different surface-charge densities is used to test the limits of the newly formed deep traps in terms of the capacity for hosting surface charges. When the initial surface-charge density is very high, more charges are forced into shallower original traps on the surface or in the bulk of the treated PP samples, reducing the effect of the deeper surface traps brought by the surface modification. The well-known crossover phenomenon (of the surface-charge decay curves) has been observed between modified PP electrets charged to +/- 2kV and to +/- 3kV. Acoustically probed charge distributions in the thickness direction of PP electrets at different stages of thermal discharging indicate that the deep surface trapping sites may have preference for negative charges, resulting in the observed asymmetric charge stability of the modified PP films. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0013805 SN - 0021-8979 SN - 1089-7550 VL - 128 IS - 3 PB - American Institute of Physics CY - Melville ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Jingwen A1 - Rychkov, Dmitry A1 - Nguyen, Quyet Doan A1 - Gerhard, Reimund T1 - Unexpected bipolar space-charge polarization across transcrystalline interfaces in polypropylene electret films JF - Journal of applied physics N2 - A double-layer transcrystalline polypropylene (PP) film with a flat central interface layer between its two transcrystalline layers is obtained by recrystallization from the melt between two polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) surfaces on both sides of the PP film. Its electret properties are studied and compared with those of a single-layer transcrystalline PP film re-crystallized in contact with only one PTFE surface. Within experimental uncertainty, the two types of transcrystalline films exhibit the same thermal properties and crystallinities. After thermal poling, however, two hetero-charge layers of opposite polarity are found on the internal interfaces of the double-layer transcrystalline films and may together be considered as micrometer-sized dipoles. The unexpected phenomenon does not occur in single-layer transcrystalline samples without a central interface layer, suggesting that the interfaces between the transcrystalline layers and the micrometer-thick central interface layer may be the origin of deeper traps rather than the crystalline structures in the transcrystallites or the spherulites. The origin of the interfacial charges was also studied by means of an injection-blocking charging method, which revealed that intrinsic charge carriers introduced during recrystallization are most likely responsible for the interfacial charges. It is fascinating that a material as familiar as PP can exhibit such intriguing properties with a special bipolar space-charge polarization across the central interface layer after quasi-epitaxial surface moulding into a double-layer transcrystalline form. In addition to applications in electret (micro-)devices for electro-mechanical transduction, the highly ordered structures may also be employed as a new paradigm for studying charge storage and transport in polymer electrets and in dielectrics for DC electrical insulation. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0022071 SN - 0021-8979 SN - 1089-7550 VL - 128 IS - 13 PB - American Institute of Physics, AIP CY - Melville, NY ER - TY - THES A1 - Wang, Jingwen T1 - Electret properties of polypropylene with surface chemical modification and crystalline reconstruction N2 - As one of the most-produced commodity polymers, polypropylene draws considerable scientific and commercial interest as an electret material. In the present thesis, the influence of the surface chemical modification and crystalline reconstruction on the electret properties of the polypropylene thin films will be discussed. The chemical treatment with orthophosphoric acid can significantly improve the surface charge stability of the polypropylene electrets by introducing phosphorus- and oxygen-containing structures onto the modified surface. The thermally stimulated discharge measurement and charge profiling by means of piezoelectrically generated pressure steps are used to investigate the electret behaviour. It is concluded that deep traps of limited number density are created during the treatment with inorganic chemicals. Hence, the improvement dramatically decreases when the surface-charge density is substantially higher than ±1.2×10^(-3) C·m^(-2). The newly formed traps also show a higher trapping energy for negative charges. The energetic distributions of the traps in the non-treated and chemically treated samples offer an insight regarding the surface and foreign-chemical dominance on the charge storage and transport in the polypropylene electrets. Additionally, different electret properties are observed on the polypropylene films with the spherulitic and transcrystalline structures. It indicates the dependence of the charge storage and transport on the crystallite and molecular orientations in the crystalline phase. In general, a more diverse crystalline growth in the spherulitic samples can result in a more complex energetic trap distribution, in comparison to that in a transcrystalline polypropylene. The double-layer transcrystalline polypropylene film with a crystalline interface in the middle can be obtained by crystallising the film in contact with rough moulding surfaces on both sides. A layer of heterocharges appears on each side of the interface in the double-layer transcrystalline polypropylene electrets after the thermal poling. However, there is no charge captured within the transcrystalline layers. The phenomenon reveals the importance of the crystalline interface in terms of creating traps with the higher activation energy in polypropylene. The present studies highlight the fact that even slight variations in the polypropylene film may lead to dramatic differences in its electret properties. N2 - Als eines der meistproduzierten Polymere stößt Polypropylen (PP) auch als Elektretmaterial auf großes wissenschaftliches und kommerzielles Interesse. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird der Einfluss chemischer Oberflächen-Modifikationen und kristalliner Rekonstruktionen auf die Elektreteigenschaften von dünnen Polypropylen-Schichten untersucht und diskutiert. Die nasschemische Behandlung mit Orthophosphorsäure kann die Oberflächenladungsstabilität der PP-Elektrete deutlich verbessern, indem phosphor- und sauerstoffhaltige Strukturen auf der modifizierten Oberfläche erzeugt und verankert werden. Aus thermisch stimulierten Entladungsexperimenten und Ladungsmessungen mit piezoelektrisch erzeugten Druckstufen ergibt sich, dass die Oberflächenbehandlung eine begrenzte Anzahl tiefer Haftstellen vor allem für negative Ladungen erzeugt. Daher nimmt die Verbesserung drastisch ab, wenn die Oberflächenladungsdichte einen wesentlich höheren Wert als ±1.2×10-3 C·m-2 hat. Die energetischen Verteilungen der Ladungsfallen in unbehandelten und in chemisch behandelten Proben ermöglichen Rückschlüsse auf die Oberfläche und auf die wesentliche Rolle der aufgebrachten chemischen Spezies für Ladungsspeicherung und -transport in PP-Elektreten. Darüber hinaus werden an dünnen Polypropylenfolien mit entweder sphärolithischen oder transkristallinen Strukturen deutlich unterschiedliche Elektreteigenschaften beobachtet, was den starken Einfluss von Kristallstruktur und Molekülorientierung auf Ladungsspeicherung und -transport in der kristallinen Phase anzeigt. Generell führt das vielfältigere kristalline Wachstum in sphärolithischen Proben oft zu komplexeren energetischen Verteilungen der Ladungsfallen als in transkristallinen PP-Schichten. Zweischichtige transkristalline PP-Folien mit einer kristallinen Grenzfläche in der Mitte können durch beidseitige Kristallisation auf rauen Formgussoberflächen erzeugt werden. Auf jeder Seite der Grenzfläche in der Mitte der zweischichtigen transkristallinen PP-Elektrete findet sich nach thermischer Polung eine Schicht von Heteroladungen, während innerhalb der transkristallinen Schichten keine Ladungen beobachtet werden. Daraus wird die Bedeutung der kristallinen Grenzfläche für das Auftreten von Ladungsfallen mit hohen Aktivierungsenergien in Polypropylen deutlich. Die vorliegenden Studien zeigen, dass bereits geringe Variationen in der Nanostruktur der Polypropylenfolien zu dramatisch unterschiedlichen Elektreteigenschaften führen können. KW - electret KW - polypropylene KW - charge storage and transport KW - surface chemical treatment KW - transcrystalline polypropylene KW - Elektret KW - Polypropylen KW - Ladungsspeicherung und -transport KW - chemische Oberflächen-Modifikationen KW - transkristallines Polypropylen Y1 - 2020 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-470271 ER -