Effets d’irradiations électroniques sur le comportement électrique d’un polymère thermoplastique haute-performance à finalité spatiale

International audienceIn space environment, satellite materials are subjected to several environmental constraints like high vacuum, temperature cycling or irradiation by space particles (electrons, protons, …). In case of polymer materials, irradiation by electrons presents two major issues. Since they are electrical insulators, the accumulation of electrons on their surface will lead to electrostatic discharge phenomena that can be responsible of electrical failures. On the other hand, high-energy electrons go through the polymers and transfer part of their energy to the material, which induces different phenomena like Radiation Induced Conductivity or physico-chemical ageing. The initial physical properties of the polymer can then be modified.In this context, numerous studies have investigated these phenomena for many space-used polymers in order to anticipate their behaviour once in orbit [1], [2]. This study focuses on PolyEtherEtherKetone (PEEK), a high-performance thermoplastic polymer which has recently but increasingly been used for space applications. Thus, it is necessary to ana-lyse the effects of electronic irradiation on its physico-chemical structure and on its physical properties