Effect of deep trapping states on space charge suppression in polyethylene/ZnO nanocomposite

This letter intends to reveal the mechanism of space charge suppression in low density polyethylene (LDPE)/ZnO nanocomposites. Trap level and space charge distributions were obtained from modified isothermal discharge current method and pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) method, respectively. The results showed that ZnO nanoparticle doping introduced large amounts of deep trapping states, significantly reduced space charge accumulation and conduction current. The results can be explained in terms of deep trapping states resulted from the interface regions and morphology structure changes by nanoparticles doping, which greatly reduced the charge mobility, raised the charge injection potential at the contact and weakened impurity ionization. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3646909]