Preparation of carbon black/polypropylene nanocomposite with low percolation threshold using mild blending method

Abstract

A new approach, mild blending method, to prepare carbon black (CB) filled polypropylene (PP) nanocomposite using CB aqueous suspension was reported in this study. In this compounding process, the CB particles were first dispersed in aqueous suspension by using an ultrasonic irradiation. Subsequently, the CB suspension was blended with melting PP using an extruder with low shear strength screw configuration, followed by removing the vapor from the vent by vacuum. The morphological observation showed that the CB particles were dispersed at a nanometer level in the nanocomposites as they were in aqueous suspension and distributed homogeneously in PP matrix. The CB/PP nanocomposite prepared by this method exhibited a very low percolation threshold, i.e., 2.49 vol %, and a high-critical resistance exponent t (t ¼ 5.82). These phenomena, which deviated from the classical percolation theory, were likely to come down to the homogeneous distribution of CB particles and the tunneling conduction.

Percolation for Coated Conductive Paper: Electrical Conductivity as a Function of Volume Fraction of Graphite and Carbon Black

“…The results were lower than those of the EBA/carbon black composites (2.24), the ethylene butylacrylate/carbon black composites (3.4), and the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene/graphite composite (3.37) (Dahiya et al 2007;Thompson et al 2010;Pelíšková et al 2014). This may be because the present coating was rather thin, nearly a two-dimensional system, in accordance with prior literature (Stauffer and Aharony 1991;Li et al 2010c).…”

Effect of the Extrusion Process on the Morphology and Electrical Conductivity of Injection-Moulded Polypropylene/HDPE/Carbon Black Composites

“…It is expected that the CB particles should be dispersed in the PP/HDPE blends at the nanoscale, and the same results have been obtained in PP/CB 25 and PP/MWCNT nanocomposites 26 .…”

Electrical conductivity studies on carbon black loaded ethylene butylacrylate polymer composites

“…Electrical properties of composites based on the dispersion of carbon black (CB) particles within an insulating polymer matrix have been extensively studied over the last decades [1][2][3][4]. These properties of such media depend on the properties of each component, the degree of dispersion, the interaction between components and the volume fraction Φ of the filler [5,6].…”