Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.106, No.5, 3461-3467, 2007
Developing electrically conductive polypropylene/polyamide6/carbon black composites with microfibrillar morphology
We have established that the PP/PA6/CB composite with 3D microfibrillar conducting network can be prepared in situ using melt spinning process. CB particles preferably were localized at the interface between polypropylene as the matrix and PA6 microfibrils, which act as the conducting paths inside the matrix. The percolation threshold of the system reduced when aspect ratio of the conducting phase was increased by developing microfibrillar morphology. The effect of annealing process on the conductivity of PP/PA6/CB composite with cocontinuous and microfibrillar morphologies was studied. It was observed that, annealing process forces CB particles towards the interface (2D space) of PP and PA6 co-continuous phases, and percolation threshold and critical exponent of classical percolation theory will be decreased, while the conductivity of conducting composite with microfibrillar morphology was not affected considerably by annealing process at temperatures either higher or lower than the melting point of the PA6 microfibrils. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.