  Single gap (gas gap 2 mm) bakelite Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) modules of
various sizes from 10 cm \times 10 cm to 1 m \times 1 m have been fabricated,
characterized and optimized for efficiency and time resolution. Thin layers of
different grades of silicone compound are applied to the inner electrode
surfaces to make them smooth and also to reduce the surface resistivity. In the
silicone coated RPCs an efficiency > 90% and time resolution \sim 2 ns (FWHM)
have been obtained for both the streamer and the avalanche mode of operation.
Before fabrication of detectors the electrical properties such as bulk
resistivity and surface resistivity of the electrode materials are measured
carefully. Effectiveness of different silicone coating in modifying the surface
resistivity was evaluated by an instrument developed for monitoring the I-V
curve of a high resistive surface. The results indicate definite correlation of
the detector efficiency for the atmospheric muons and the RPC noise rates with
the surface resistivity and its variation with the applied bias voltage. It was
also found that the surface resistivity varies for different grades of silicone
material applied as coating, and the results are found to be consistent with
the detector efficiency and noise rate measurements done with these RPCs.
