Electric resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene under shock compression

The postshock resistivity of polytetrafluoroethylene is determined in the pressure range of 35–63 GPa. The measurements were conducted using a cell 0.2 mm thick with uniform distribution of the resistivity over the thickness. At pressures above 35 GPa, as both the coordinate of the cell and time increase, the resistivity decreases monotonically, reaching an equilibrium value in a characteristic time of about 0.5 $\mu$sec at a distance of several millimeters from the plane of discontinuity decay. The results indicate destruction of the polymer in the pressure range of 35–63 GPa. Over the entire range, the average value of the empirical dissociation energy is (3.3 $\pm$ 0.7) eV, which coincides within the error with the energy of the C–C single bond, equal to 3.6 eV.