Prediction of electrical conductivity of carbon fiber-carbon nanotube-reinforced polymer hybrid composites

Abstract

A two-step analytical electrical conductivity method is adopted to calculate the effective electrical conductivity of the carbon fiber (CF)-carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymer hybrid composite. First, CNTs are dispersed into the non-conducting polymer matrix and the electrical conductivity of the CNT-polymer composite is obtained. Then, CFs are randomly distributed in the CNT-polymer composite and the effective electrical conductivity of CF-CNT-polymer hybrid composite is estimated. The effect of critical parameters, including the volume fraction, alignment, agglomerated state and aspect ratio of the CNTs and the potential barrier height of the polymer on the hybrid composite electrical conductivity is evaluated. Also, the influence of the content and aspect ratio of CFs on the electric conductive behavior of the polymer hybrid composites is investigated. The results show that the polymer hybrid composite with larger aspect ratio and off alignment of CNTs presents a higher electrical conductivity.