Dielectric loss of polyethylene below 4.2°K arising from proton tunneling

Abstract

AbstractThe dielectric loss of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE: melt‐crystallized films and single‐crystal mats), low‐density polyethylene (LDPE), and copolymers of ethylene and vinyl alcohol (PEVA) was measured at 1.5 to 4.2°K in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 10 kHz. Results for HDPE show dispersion curves almost corresponding to a single relaxation and are interpreted in terms of phonon‐assisted tunneling of the protons of hydroxyl groups which are accidentally attached to tertiary carbons (carbons with a short branch). Dispersion curves for LDPE and PEVA are quite broad, indicating a wide distribution of relaxation times. The loss level of PEVA passes through a maximum at 7.5% vinyl alcohol, suggesting that interaction between a couple of neighboring hydroxyl groups depresses the loss. A potential calculation for the rotation of a hydroxyl group in the orthorhombic lattice of polyethylene yielded a double‐minimum potential for the tunneling when the lattice is assumed to have a distortion which is acceptable from x‐ray analysis. The potential quantitatively explains the observed values of relaxation time and relaxation strength of HDPE. The concentration of hydroxyl groups in HDPE, which varies among the samples, is estimated to be of the order of 1016 cm−3.