Influence of electron beam irradiation on TSC of polyetheretherketone

Thermally stimulated current (TSC) properties of unirradiated and electron beam irradiated polyetheretherketone (PEEK) were investigated. In the case of the biasing voltage application, peaks of TSC of unirradiated and irradiated specimen appeared between 120/spl deg/C and 180/spl deg/C. The peak value increased with increasing the biasing voltage. The peak temperature shifted to higher temperature with increasing the biasing temperature. The peak temperature increased with increasing the dose in spite of the biasing voltage value. The peak value of the biasing temperature of 100/spl deg/C and 140/spl deg/C did not change very much between 0 Gy to 100 MGy. However, in the case of 180/spl deg/C, the peak value showed the maximum at 50 MGy. The crosslinking caused by an electron beam irradiation affected the peak temperature and the peak value of TSC.