Electrical conductivity of epoxy/silicone/carbon black composites: Effect of composite microstructure

Abstract

The objective of this work is to study the effect of electrical conductivity and physical-mechanical properties of carbon black (CB) filled polymer composites. This goal is achieved by synthesizing epoxy/silicon phase separated blend structure of composites filled with CB. The percolation threshold of epoxy/silicone/CB composites decreased and the total conductivity increased compared to the pure epoxy/CB composite. A threefold increase was obtained with tensile strength of epoxy/silicone/CB composite with 25 wt% of silicone and 5 wt% of CB in comparison with epoxy/CB systems. This composite has conductivity of about 10(-6) S/cm, which is six orders of magnitude higher than for epoxy/CB composites at the same concentration of CB. (C) 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers