Carbon black-filled immiscible blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) and high density polyethylene: The relationship between morphology and positive and negative temperature coefficient effects

Conductive polymer composites were prepared by melt-mixing of an immiscible blend of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), high density polyethylene (HDPE), and carbon black (CB). Three major factors-the carbon black content, the carbon black type, and the composite morphology-were shown to have remarkable effects on the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effect of the composites. The relationship between the morphology and the PTC and NTC effects of the composites was investigated using optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The OM micrographs indicated that CB was selectively located in the HDPE phase and the SEM micrographs showed that there were some gaps between the two phases. The PTC effect of the composites is caused by the thermal expansion as a result of the melting of the HDPE crystallites. The morphology of the composites greatly affects the PTC and NTC behaviors of the composites. When the CB-filled HDPE formed a continuous phase and the PVDF formed a dispersed phase, the PTC and NTC behaviors of the composites were similar to those of CB-filled neat HDPE composite without crosslinking. When the composite exhibited an interlocking structure, a normal PTC effect could also be observed, but the NTC effect was delayed to higher temperatures. A mechanism was proposed to explain this new physical phenomenon, and the mechanism was verified by another CB-filled polymer blend comprising an alternating copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene-ethylene and HDPE.