• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.329-336
• /
• 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 $350^{\circ}C{\sim}470^{\circ}C$.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.713-721
• /
• 1999

A composite plastic, where long metallic fibers are used as filling materials, is transformed from nonconducting to conducting medium as the volume fraction of filling metallic fibers is increased from zero : such drastic change in property is called the percolation. It is desired both for practical and theoretical purposes to understand the physics underlying the percolation and to estimate the percolation threshold that is defined by the minimum volume fraction of the metallic fibers for which the percolation occurs. In this study, percolation thresholds are calculated by Monte Carlo Computer simulation. Both lattice and continuum spaces are considered and detailed microstructures of metallic fibers are modelled as rigid and flexible bodies for both model spaces. Simulations are carried out for wide range of aspect ratios and discussions are given.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
• /
• v.21 no.9
• /
• pp.477-481
• /
• 2011

Composites of insulating polyethylene and carbon black are widely used in switching elements, conductive paint, and other applications due to the large gap of resistance value. This research addresses the critical exponent of dielectric breakdown strength of polymer matrix composites (PMC) made with carbon black and polyethylene below the percolation threshold (Pt) for the first time. Here, Pt means the volume fraction of carbon black of which the resistance of the PMC is transferred from its sharp decrease to gradual decrease in accordance with the increase of carbon-black-filled content. First, the Pt is determined based on the critical exponents of resistivity and relative permittivity. Although huge cohesive bodies of carbon black are formed in case of being less than the Pt, a percolation path connecting the conducting phases is not formed. The dielectric breakdown strength (Dbs) of the PMC below Pt is measured by using an impulse voltage in the range from 10 kV to 40 kV to avoid the effect of joule heating. Although the observed Dbs data seems to be well fitted to a straight line with a slope of 0.9 on a double logarithm of (Pt-$V_{CB}$) and Dbs, the least squares method gives a slope of 0.97 for the PMC. It has been found that finite carbon-black clusters play an important role in dielectric breakdown.

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

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

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.125-140
• /
• 2015

This paper describes the numerical calculation of elastic properties of a simulated microstructure of cement paste from very early age, when most previous models fail to give accurate results. The development of elastic properties of tricalcium silicate pastes was calculated by discretising a numerical resolution-free 3D vector microstructure to a regular cubic mesh. Due to the connections formed in the microstructure as an artefact of the meshing procedure, the simulated elastic moduli were found to be higher than expected. Furthermore, the percolation of the solids was found to occur even before hydration started. A procedure to remove these artefacts, on the basis of the information available in the vector microstructures was developed. After this correction, a better agreement of the experimental results with calculations was obtained between 20% and 40% hydration. However, percolation threshold was found to be delayed significantly. More realistic estimates of percolation threshold were obtained if either flocculation or a densification of calcium silicate hydrate with hydration was assumed.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.35 no.6
• /
• pp.603-609
• /
• 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)
• /
• v.34 no.2
• /
• pp.97-103
• /
• 2010

PMMA was grafted on MWCNT surface in order to prepare conducting film composed of 6FDAbased polyimide/MWCNT. The electrical conductivity of 6FDA-based polyimide/PMMA-g-MWCNT was investigated as a function of PMMA-g-MWCNT content. Dispersion of MWCNT in 6FDA-based polyimide composite film was better than the pristine MWCNT due to the interaction force between PMMA and 6FDA-based polyimide. Electrical conductivity was interpreted by percolation threshold theory. As a result, 6FDA-6FpDA/PMMA-g-MWCNT which have high critical exponents and low critical concentration showed better dispersion than polyimide composite material that contains DABA(diamino benzoic acid).

• Composites Research
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.61-67
• /
• 2004

This paper reports the electrical conductivity and the stress-strain behavior of silver particle-filled silicone composite pastes for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding gasket materials. The percolation threshold (critical concentration) of the composite paste obtained by incorporating irregular sphere-shaped silver particles and room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone resin was determined from the electrical conductivity result. At about 28 vol% Beading of untreated silver particles, the percolation phenomenon occurred and at this critical concentration, the volumetric resistivity, the tensile strength, and the elongation of the pastes were investigated. This work also suggests that the stress-strain characteristics of a composite paste filled with metal particles above the percolation threshold may be effectively improved by properly selecting a coupling agent.

• Elastomers and Composites
• /
• v.52 no.4
• /
• pp.272-279
• /
• 2017

The heterocoagulation of latex is a simple and useful method to fabricate various polymer nanocomposites in which a precise control of the colloid stability is essential. In this work, a multi-layered graphenes (MLGs)/poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate) (P(S-co-BA)) nanocomposite having an excellent dispersion of MLGs was prepared via the sudden heating heterocoagulation process. The P(S-co-BA) component was obtained by emulsion polymerization. This process can effectively shorten the process and particles growth steps. The colloid stability of these dispersions was controlled by factors such as ionic charge, temperature, and reaction times. The influence of these factors on heterocoagulation was evaluated and the properties of the nanocomposites were investigated. The conductivity of the MLGs/P(S-co-BA) nanocomposites increased from -11.53 to -5.70 S/cm for an increase in MLG content from 0.01 to 5 wt%. Moreover, percolation threshold was observed in the case of 0.01 wt% MLGs.