Thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectra of polyacrylonitrile were measured for temperatures ranging from 10 to 170°C. The TSC spectrum obtained with the polarization in a low polarizing field is characterized by two peaks at 110°C (α
I peak) and at 150°C (α
II peak). In the case of the high field polarization, a current reversal phenomenum was observed near at the α
II peak temperature. It is considered that the α
I and α
II peaks are due to the dipolar relaxations in the amorphous and paracrystalline phases, respectively. The activation energies for these two dipolar relaxations were determained by thermal sampling method. The values obtained were 36 kcal/mol for the α
II relaxation and 43 kcal/mol for the α
I relaxation. The degree of crystallinity, which was calculated as a percentage of the polarization charge responsible for the α
II relaxation against the total polarization, was 32%.
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