Epoxy resin/plasticized carbon black composites. Part I. Electrical and thermal properties and their applications

The development of conductive polymer composites remains an important endeavor in light of growing energy concerns. A conducting polymer composite in the presence of plasticized carbon black (CB) and epoxy resin has been developed. Room temperature electrical conductivity, mobility carriers (p), and number of charges (M increase by increasing CB content. Electrical conductivity-temperature dependence of the composite was investigated and negative temperature coefficient of conductivity (NTC) behavior of the composites was revealed. The mechanism of the NTC effect in materials is related to the thermal expansion of the epoxy matrix and barriers height energy. The current-voltage behavior of epoxy/CB composites shows a switching effect and the mechanism of negative resistance is interpreted in details. Thermal conductivity (1) increases with increasing filler content and the experimental data was compared with a theoretical model based on energy balance equation.