Analysis of the electrical characteristic of linseed oil films exposed to humidity

Linseed oil is a material widely used in various applications as a protecting layer for surfaces in industry, in scientific research, for medical use, and finally for artistic purpose. This natural origins substance has a particular application as a protective and smoothing layer on phenolic-melaminic laminate electrodes on Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) detectors used in various particle physic experiments. In such electronic applications where linseed oil could be exposed to water vapours, an electrical characterization should result useful for having an overall control of the process involving the oil. In this paper, we studied the electrical behaviour towards relative humidity variations of linseed oil films deposited on interdigitated metal electrodes. Moreover, I/V characterisation both in air and vacuum, current vs. temperature and relative humidity was performed.