• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.678-682
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• 2015

The electrical property of polymer matrix composites with added carbon powder is studied based on the temperature dependency of the conduction mechanism. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold (x) changed from negative to positive at 0.20 < x < 0.21; this trend decreased with increasing of the percolation threshold. The temperature dependence of the electrical property(resistivity) of the polymer matrix composites below the percolation threshold can be explained by using a tunneling conduction model that incorporates the effect of the thermal expansion of the polymer matrix composites into the tunneling gap. The temperature coefficient of the resistance of the polymer matrix composites above the percolation threshold has a positive value; its absolute value increased with increasing volume fraction of carbon powder. By assuming that the electrical conduction through the percolating paths is a thermally activated process and by incorporating the effect of thermal expansion into the volume fraction of the carbon power, the temperature dependency of the resistivity above the percolation threshold can be well explained without violating the universal law of conductivity.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.271-277
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• 2010

In this paper two aspects of the percolation and conductivity of carbon black-filled polyethylene matrix composites will be discussed. Firstly, the percolation behavior, the critical exponent of conductivity of these composites, are discussed based on studying the whole change of resistivity, the relationship between frequency and relative permittivity or ac conductivity. There are two transitions of resistivity for carbon black filling. Below the first transition, resistivity shows an ohmic behavior and its value is almost the same as that of the matrix. Between the first and second transition, the change in resistivity is very sharp, and a non-ohmic electric field dependence of current has been observed. Secondly, the electrical conduction property of the carbon black-filled polyethylene matrix composites below the percolation threshold is discussed with the hopping conduction model. This study investigates the electrical conduction property of the composites below the percolation threshold based on the frequency dependence of conductivity in the range of 20 Hz to 1 MHz. There are two components for the observed ac loss current. One is independent of frequency that becomes prevalent in low frequencies just below the percolation threshold and under a high electrical field. The other is proportional to the frequency of the applied ac voltage in high frequencies and its origin is not clear. These results support the conclusion that the electrical conduction mechanism below the percolation threshold is tunneling.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.644-648
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• 2009

Temperature dependency of resistivity of the carbon black-polyethylene composites below and above percolation threshold is studied based on the electrical conduction mechanism. Temperature coefficient of resistance of the composites below percolation threshold changed from minus to plus, increasing volume fraction of carbon black; this trend decreased with increasing volume fraction of carbon black. The temperature dependence of resistivity of the composites below percolation threshold can be explained with a tunneling conduction model by incorporating the effect of thermal expansion of the composites into a tunneling gap. Temperature coefficient of resistance of the composites above percolation threshold was positive and its absolute value increased with increasing volume fraction of carbon black. By assuming that the electrical conduction through percolating paths is a thermally activated process and by incorporating the effect of thermal expansion into the volume fraction of carbon black, the temperature dependency of the resistivity above percolation threshold has been well explained without violating the universal law of conductivity. The apparent activation energy is estimated to be 0.14 eV.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.329-336
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• 2014

The conductive polymer composites have attracted considerable attention in the field of industry due to their electrical properties. To understand electrical properties of the composites, their volume specific resistance was measured. Electrical conductivity results showed percolation phenomena. Percolation theories are frequently applied to describe the insulator-to-conductor transitions in the composites composed of conductive filler and insulating matrix. It was found that the percolation threshold strongly depends on the aspect ratio of filler particles. The critical concentration of percolation formed is defined as the percolation threshold. The purpose of this study was to examine electrical properties of the epoxy resins filled with nickel. The sample was prepared using vehicle such as epoxy resin replenished with nickel powder, and the evaluation on their practical use was performed in order to apply them to electric and electronic industry as well as general field. The volume specific resistance of epoxy resin composites was 4.666~13.074 when using nickel powder. Weight loss of the conductive composites took place at $350^{\circ}C{\sim}470^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.472-479
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• 2013

The conductive polymer composites recently became increasingly to many fields of industry due to their electrical properties. To understand these properties of composites, electrical properties were measured and were studied relatively. Electrical conductivity measurements showed percolation phenomena. Percolation theories are frequently applied to describe the insulator-to-conductor transitions in composites made of a conductive filler and an insulating matrix. It has been showed both experimentally and theoretically that the percolation threshold strongly depends on the aspect ratio of filler particles. The critical concentration of percolation formed is defined as the percolation threshold. This paper was to study epoxy resin filled with copper. The experiment was made with vehicle such as epoxy resin replenished with copper powder and the study about their practical use was performed in order to apply to electric and electronic industry as well as general field. The volume specific resistance of epoxy resin composites was 3.065~13.325 in using copper powder. The weight loss of conductive composites happened from $350^{\circ}C{\sim}470^{\circ}C$.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.119-124
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• 2015

This paper investigates the change of the percolation threshold in the carbon powder-filled polystyrene matrix composites based on the experimental results of changes in the resistivity and relative permittivity of the carbon powder filling, the electric field dependence of the current, and the critical exponent of conductivity. In this research, the percolation behavior, the critical exponent of resistivity, and electrical conduction mechanism of the carbon powder-filled polystyrene matrix composites are discussed based on a study of the overall change in the resistivity. It was found that the formation of infinite clusters is interrupted by a tunneling gap in the volume fraction of the carbon powder filling, where the change in the resistivity is extremely large. In addition, it was found that the critical exponent of conductivity for the universal law of conductivity is satisfied if the percolation threshold is estimated at the volume fraction of carbon powder where non-ohmic current behavior becomes ohmic. It was considered that the mechanism for changing the gaps between the carbon powder aggregates into ohmic contacts is identical to that of the connecting conducting phases above the percolation threshold in a random resister network system. The electric field dependence is discussed with a tunneling mechanism. It is concluded that the percolation threshold should be defined at this volume fraction (the second transition of resistivity for the carbon powder-filled polystyrene matrix composites) of carbon powder.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.217-231
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• 2016

The present work aims to develop piezoresistive sensors of excellent piezoresistive response attributable to change in nanoscale structures of multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWNT) embedded in cement. MWNT was distributed in a cement matrix by means of polymer wrapping method in tandem with the ultrasonication process. DC conductivity of the prepared samples exhibited the electrical percolation behavior and therefore the dispersion method adopted in this study was deemed effective. The integrity of piezoresistive response of the sensors was assessed in terms of stability, the maximum electrical resistance change rate, and sensitivity. A composite sensor with MWNT 0.2 wt.% showed the lowest stability and sensitivity, while the maximum electrical resistance change rate exhibited by this sample was the highest (96 %) among others and even higher than those found in the literature. This observation was presumably attributed by the percolation threshold and the tunneling effect. As a result of the MWNT content (0.2 wt.%) of the sensor being near the percolation threshold (0.25 wt.%), MWNTs were close to each other to trigger tunneling in response of external loading. The sensor with MWNT 0.2 wt.% was able to maintain the repeatable sensing capability while sustaining a vehicular loading on road, demonstrating the feasibility in traffic flow sensing application.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2022

The percolation threshold of the CNT-reinforced cement paste is closely related to the optimal CNT amount to maximize the sensing ability of self-sensing concrete. However, the percolation threshold has various values depending on the cement, CNT, and water-to-cement ratio used. In this study, a percolation simulation model was proposed to predict the percolation threshold of the CNT-reinforced cement paste. The proposed model can simulate the percolation according to the amount of CNT using only the properties of CNT and cement, and for this, the concept of the number of aggregated CNT particles was used. The percolation simulation consists of forming a pre-hydrated cement paste model, random dispersion of CNTs, and percolation investigation. The simulation used CNT-reinforced cement paste with a water-cement ratio of 0.4 to 0.6, and the simulated percolation threshold point showed high accuracy with a simulation residual ratio of up to 7.5 % compared to the literature results.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.603-609
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• 1998

The composites of insulating polymer filled with conducting carbon-fiber were fabricated by molding press method. To understand the fiber aspect-ratio dependence of electrical conductivity the aspect ratio was varied from 4 to 10 The percolation thresholds of transition from the insulator to the conductor de-creased as the fiber aspect ratio increased. The percolation threshold of fiber-segregated composite in this study was smaller than that of fiber-random composite shown in other study. When the electrical con-ductivity curves were fitted by general effective medium equation morphological variable(t) decreased as the fiber aspect-ratio increased.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2003

In this work, the effect of different contents of $Fe_3O_4$ and temperature variation on the electrical conductivity ($\sigma$) in the polar acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)/$Fe_3O_4$ (magnetite) mixture system was investigated. It was found that the percolation threshold concept holds true for the conductive particle-filled composites where $\sigma$ indicates a nearly sharp increase when the concentration of magnetite in the mixture exceeds 22%. The temperature dependence of $\sigma$ was thermally activated below and at the percolation threshold ($P_c$). Magnetite acted as reinforcing and conductive filler for NBR. At room temperature and higher voltages, the electrical current was proportional to the square of voltage ($I{\propto}V^2$) for the composites which contain 30 phr of magnetite. Moreover, it was shown that the composites with magnetite of 50 phr showed the highest tensile strength and elongation at break, which was due to the formation of optimal physical interlock and crosslinking. The results of 100%, 200%, and 300% Young moduli said that the moduli are largely correlated with reinforcement effect of magnetite and viscosity of the blends from torque curve.