Development of novel highly conductive 3D printable hybrid polymer-graphene composites

Abstract

This paper focuses on developing hybrid composites of conductive polymers with graphene which have been shown to form a synergistic relationship between the components by lowering the percolation threshold and therefore achieving significant electrical conductivity at relatively low filler loadings. A variety of analytical techniques have been used to determine the factors contributing towards the electrical conductivity performance in these composites and the results of which have been used to construct a production method based on the solution casting process. The key factors identified have included the polarity of the primary polymer, the level of homogeneity of the dispersion of the conductive filler materials and the crystallinity of the resulting composite which in this case is increased by the addition of sucrose. Optimising for these factors the production method has been able to manufacture samples with an electrical conductivity of up to 14.2 S.cm−1 at a filler loading of 10 wt.% graphene and 10 wt.% conductive polymer in the base polymethyl methacrylate matrix. These have been investigated for application in 3D printing as an alternative to wiring or expensive printable conductive inks, and successful samples have been produced with an electrical conductivity of 11.3 S.cm−1.