Electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of melt-spun ternary composites comprising PMMA, carbon fibers and carbon black

Abstract

In this study, the electrical conductivity of melt spun composites consisting of PMMA containing both aligned carbon fibers (CF) and carbon black (CB) has been investigated. A broad range of composite compositions (up to 50 vol % CF and 20 vol % CB) was studied. The percolation thresholds of binary PMMA/CF and PMMA/CB composites were determined to 31.8 and 3.9 vol %, respectively. Experimental conductivity contour plots for PMMA/CF/CB ternary composites were presented for the first time. Additionally, based on a model for predicting the percolation threshold of ternary composites, a novel equation was proposed to predict the conductivity of ternary composites, showing results in agreement with corresponding experimental data. Finally, two mechanical contour plots for elastic modulus and tensile strength were presented, showing how the decreasing tensile strength and increasing E-modulus of the PMMA/CF/CB ternary composites was depending on the CB and CF filling fractions. The systematic measurements and novel equations presented in this work are especially valuable when designing ternary conductive polymer composites with two different fillers.