Electrical properties and mesostructure of carbon black-filled polymers

The electrical properties of carbon black-filled polymers are briefly reviewed. The published experimental findings are compared to the predictions of current models related to percolation theory. It is deduced that, although this theory applies qualitatively to most of the observed behaviors, it fails to give account quantitatively of many others, like for example the location of the well-known conductivity transition. One concludes that basically one may suspect that the model of mesostructure that is involved in this approach is not fully appropriate. New results obtained by means of a novel technique allowing a powerful investigation of the electrical connection among the conducting particles throughout the heterogeneous material are reported. A preliminary conclusion is that the mesostructure that can be deduced is in qualitative agreement with the percolation model. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.