Development of electrically conductive composites based on recycled resources

Abstract

The current study was focused on the development of electrically conductive composites of carbon particle filled cotton fabric/epoxy systems. The carbon particles were refined to the scale of micro/nanoparticles using ball milling and morphological properties were studied by Malvern zetasizer and SEM. The influence of different concentrations of carbon particles in green epoxy resin for electrical conductivity was studied. Additionally, the electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding ability of conductive composites were analyzed. Waveguide method at high frequency (i.e. at 2.45 GHz) was used to investigate the EMI shielding. Similarly, the effect of different concentrations of carbon particles in composites was also studied for mechanical strength (tensile and flexural). A comprehensive study showed the improvements in electrical and mechanical properties with increase in the concentration of carbon particles and their even distribution in resin. The composites with higher carbon filler concentration showed maximum electrical conductivity (1.0E–02), shielding effectiveness 23.13 dB and mechanical properties.