Steady State Conduction Behaviour of Liquid Crystalline Polyurethane

Abstract

The steady state measurements in Liquid crystalline polyurethane (LCPU) have been investigated for different fields (4 - 45 kV/cm) and temperatures (50°-220°C). The nature of conduction processes has been determined by estimating ion jump distances (a) and Schottky coefficients. The order of magnitude of a in the temperature region 150°C and below does not seem to support an ionic conduction. However the magnitude of a at higher temperatures (180°C and above) indicates the possibility of ionic conduction. There is a definite possibility of a Schottky type conduction at lower temperature and a Poole Frankel type conduction at higher temperature (100°C). The activation energy associated with the high temperature region lies between 0.26 eV and 0.65 eV depending on the field whereas in the low temperature region the activation energy lies between 0.82 eV and 0.95 eV depending on the applied electric field. The dual slopes in the log I versus 1/T curves indicate the presence of more than one type of trapping levels.