Spatial Confining Forced Network-Assembly for preparation of high-performance conductive polymeric composites

Constructing a network of conductive fillers in polymeric matrix is essential for the preparation of conductive polymer composites. Although the conductivity of the composites could increase remarkably after the percolation threshold, it is still much lower than expected due to a limited self-assembly interaction between filler particles. In this paper, high-performance conductive polymer composites were prepared by the method of Spatial Confining Forced Network Assembly (SCFNA). The compound of homogenous polymer and conductive fillers, prepared by conical twin-screw mixer, was placed in a compression mold with confining space to carry out two-stage compression, free compression and spatial confining compression. The electrical conductivity of the SCFNA prepared polypropylene/short carbon fibers was increased up to 4 orders of magnitude higher than that of by ordinary compounding technology. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.