Charge transfer at metal-dielectric liquid interfaces evidence from the solid state

Abstract

The transfer of charge between metal electrodes and dielectric liquids is invariably invoked in explanations of conduction and breakdown in dielectric liquids. The details of such processes, however, have hardly been studied at all, mainly because of the great difficulty of investigating the metal-liquid interface without disturbance. It is, however, possible to study charge transfer at metal-solid hydrocarbon polymer interfaces and the realization that this will be very similar to the metal-liquid hydrocarbon interface can give new insights into liquid conduction and breakdown. A range of measurements on charge transfer at metal-polymer interfaces are reported using non-contacting charge induction techniques. The main features of these measurements allow new proposals to be made about the initiatory phases of breakdown in liquids under impulse and steady voltage conditions.