Polymer insulating materials have been widely used in electrical equipment

and their insulation safety has a significant impact on the reliable service of electrical equipment. The formation of a large number of carrier traps in polymer materials due to the production process and the aging of the operation provides the conditions for the accumulation of space charge

so that it makes polymeric materials to face the risk of breakdown and seriously threatens its safe operation. Therefore

characterizing the carrier traps in the polymeric insulators and exploring the correlation with aging and breakdown of materials are important for their safety. So

we summarized the research progress of characterization methods for carrier trapping of polymer insulating materials

and analyzed and reviewed the basic principles

applications

and limitations of various materials trap characterization methods. It is suggested that isothermal surface potential decay

thermally stimulated current

photo stimulated discharge

and pulsed electroacoustic methods exhibit high effectiveness for carrier trap characterization. However

detailed mathematical models are still needed for samples with various sizes

the intrinsic relations among the measurements should be further investigated

and three-dimensional mapping technique for the trap should be developed. It is possible to employ physical or chemical methods to modulate or edit the trap

by which the insulation property of the material can be improved.