Electric heating behavior of flexible graphene/natural rubber conductor with self-healing conductive network

Abstract

Graphene (GE)/natural rubber (NR) composites (RGE) with a conductive segregated network (RGES) are prepared by latex mixing. Results show that the RGES composite with GE content of 10phr (RGES-10) exhibits excellent electrical conductivity of 2.7S/m and good flexibility. After 4 tensile cycles and subsequent thermal treatment, the electrical conductivity of RGES-10 shifts to 4.4S/m, nearly 2 times higher than that of unstretched RGES-10 samples. The increased conductivity indicates that the destroyed networks, which occur during the tensile process, can be healed during the post thermal treatment. In addition, RGES-10 composite possesses excellent heat propagation with a uniform temperature distribution. The steady-state temperature of the RGES-10 increases from 57 to 152°C as the applied voltage increases from 10 to 20V.