Modeling of Effective Electrical Conductivity and Percolation Behavior in Conductive-Polymer Nanocomposites Reinforced with Spherical Carbon Black

We present an analytical micromechanical model to predict the electrical conductivity and the percolation behavior of the conductive Polymer nano-composites (PNCs) containing spherical carbon black (CB) nanoparticles as fillers. The proposed model accounts for the effect of quantum electron tunneling, the thickness of the interphase region, the radius of filler, the conductivity of the filler, the conductivity of interphase region, the conductivity of matrix, and volume fraction loading. The characteristics of the interphase layer including those related to the fabrication of the polymer matrix and the type of the nanocomposite employed, quantum electron tunneling, and the conductive network resulting from electrical contacts are the principal physical mechanisms determining the overall electrical conductivity. The model accurately describes the measured electrical conductivity of a variety of nanocomposites over the entire range of CB volume fractions, and accounts for the very sharp transition at the percolation threshold. Notably, the model accurately predicts the wide distribution of experimentally observed percolation thresholds for PNCs reinforced with CB fillers, which lie in the 3-30% range.

Automated summary

The study introduces an analytical model to predict the electrical conductivity and percolation behavior of conductive polymer nano-composites containing spherical carbon black nanoparticles. The model considers various factors and accurately describes the experimental results.