Polymer composites of low-density polyethylene/polypropylene/graphite/vanadium dioxide (LDPE 0.8 /PP 0.2 /Gr 0.4 /VO 2 ) are prepared by classical melt-mixing technology and show a notable double positive temperature coefficient of electric resistivity (PTC), which originates from the combined effect of highly conductive Gr and VO 2 with a thermal phase transition. When the weight ratio of VO 2 is 8 wt %, the positive temperature coefficient intensity (PTCI) for the composites reaches 3.85 orders of magnitude. The model system demonstrates the reason for the improvement in the PTC performance of the polymer composites by analyzing the construction of the conductive networks. Therefore, the addition of phase-transition compounds may be a promising path to improving PTC materials.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.