Significant enhancement of electrical and thermal conductivities of polyethylene carbon nanotube composites by the addition of a low amount of silver nanoparticles

Electrically and thermally conductive high-density polyethylene composites filled with hybrid fillers, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs), have been prepared in the melt state. The investigation of their electrical and thermal conductivities while comparing with high-density polyethylene/MWCNT binary composites shows that the addition of only 3 vol% of Ag-NPs does not reduce the electrical percolation threshold (Pc) that remains as low as 0.40 vol% of MWCNTs but leads to an increase in the maximum dc electrical conductivity of PE/MWCNT composites by two orders of magnitudes. Moreover, the association of both Ag-NPs and carbon nanotube particles improved our composite's thermal conductivity. Copyright (C) 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.