Non-monotonic dependence of the conductivity of carbon nanotube-filled elastomers subjected to uniaxial compression/decompression

作者：Semeriyanov F F^*; Chervanyov A I; Jurk R; Subramaniam K; Koenig S; Roscher M; Das A; Stoeckelhuber K W; Heinrich G

来源：Journal of Applied Physics, 2013, 113(10): 103706.

DOI：10.1063/1.4794835

Electrical resistance of the elastomeric material polychloroprene filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) dispersed by using an imidazolium based ionic liquid has been measured experimentally and calculated theoretically, as a function of the applied compression/decompression force F. Both experimental and theoretical results show that the electrical resistance R of the composite exhibits non-monotonic dependence on F. This observed non-monotonic dependence R(F) is explained by different mechanisms of conductivity that are specific to the respective domains of the magnitude of the compression/decompression force F. At small F, the observed decrease of conductivity with increasing F is found to be caused by the change of an average contact distance between CNTs. At higher F, the observed increase of R with increasing F is caused by the dependence of the per-particle surface area on F. The experimentally observed dependence R(F) is adequately described by the developed theory that relies on establishing the exact relation between the CNT network structure and the electrical response of the composite. Theoretical dependence between the conductivity of the composite and the applied stress is obtained using the percolation model of the electrical conductivity of CNT network that shows excellent quantitative agreement with the experimental results.

• 出版日期2013-3-14