Abstract
The method of measuring electrical volume resistivity in different directions was applied to characterize the filler orientation in melt mixed polymer composites containing different carbon fillers. For this purpose, various kinds of fillers with different geometries and aspect ratios were selected, namely carbon black (CB), graphite (G) and expanded graphite (EG), branched multiwalled carbon nanotubes (b-MWCNTs), non-branched multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). As it is well known that the shaping process also plays an important role in the achieved electrical properties, this study compares results for compression molded plates with random filler orientations in the plane as well as extruded films, which have, moreover, conductivity differences between extrusion direction and perpendicular to the plane. Additionally, the polymer matrix type (poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyamide 6 (PA6)) and filler concentration were varied. For the electrical measurements, a device able to measure the electrical conductivity in two directions was developed and constructed. The filler orientation was analyzed using the ratio σin/th calculated as in-plane conductivity σin-plane (σin) divided by through-plane conductivity σthrough-plane (σth). The ratio σin/th is expected to increase with more pronounced filler orientation in the processing direction. In the extruded films, alignment within the plane was assigned by dividing the in-plane conductivity in the extrusion direction (x) by the in-plane conductivity perpendicular to the extrusion direction (y). The conductivity ratios depend on filler type and concentration and are higher the higher the filler aspect ratio and the closer the filler content is to the percolation concentration.
Highlights
Conductive composite materials currently play a systematically growing role for new technologies and products
The aim of the present study was to show the dependency of the electrical conductivity on the measuring direction for different polymer composite systems consisting of different polymer types, filler types, and concentrations, which were shaped by two different methods: compression molding and film extrusion
The morphology of the carbon fillers was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Figure 2) at comparable magnification
Summary
Conductive composite materials currently play a systematically growing role for new technologies and products. One of the main applications of CPCs is for electrostatic discharge materials, which are used, for example, in the housings of electrical and electronic parts [10], antistatic packaging, and fuel lines, and to reduce the explosion risk in fuel tanks and hazardous materials containers the electrical discharge ability, as needed. In these applications, the in-plane conductivity mainly at the surface of the plastic parts is required and electrical resistivity values can be in the range of Polymers 2019, 11, 591; doi:10.3390/polym11040591 www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers. For the replacement of metallic parts by CPC materials, e.g., for weight reduction and fuel savings in automotive applications, electrostatic painting processes, which require the conductivity in-plane on the surface of the parts to be painted, are used [11,12]
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