Reduced percolation concentration in polypropylene/expanded graphite composites: Effect of viscosity and polypyrrole

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Juergen Pionteck - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Elixana Maria Melchor Valdez - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Universidad Simón Bolívar (Author)
  • Francesco Piana - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Maria Omastova - , SAS Institute, Inc. (Author)
  • Adriaan Stephanus Luyt - , University of The Free State (Author)
  • Brigitte Voit - , Chair of Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)

Abstract

With the goal to obtain material combining electrical and thermal conductivity at low filler loadings, composites based on polypropylenes (PP) and expanded graphite (EG) have been prepared. The effects of matrix viscosity and of coating the EG particles with polypyrrole (PPy, EG/PPy=37.5/62.5 by weight) on the EG dispersibility and formation of percolation structures have been analyzed. When increasing the EG amount from 6 to 8 wt %, the electrical conductivity of PP/EG composites increased by 7-9 orders of magnitude, independent of matrix viscosity. When EG-PPy is added, percolation was observed between 8 and 12 wt % EG-PPy (3 and 4.5 wt % EG) in case of PP with higher viscosity and 6 wt % EG (2.25 wt % EG) in case of PP with lower viscosity, exhibiting a strong synergistic effect of EG and PPy in the latter case. In contrast, PPy does not contribute to reduction of thermal percolation concentration. Thermal percolation is observed at 8 wt % EG in PP/EG composites, but no percolation was found in PP/EG-PPy composites with EG-PPy contents of up to 20 wt %, corresponding to 7.5 wt % EG. Analyzing the melt rheology it becomes clear that the contribution of PPy to the formation of a filler network is strongly dependent on the matrix viscosity. The comparison of thermal, electrical and rheological percolation reveals that PPy participates in electron transport reducing the electrical percolation but not to heat transport. Overall, we found a good correlation between electrical, thermal, and melt rheological percolation concentrations. (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015, 132, 41994.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of applied polymer science
Volume132
Issue number20
Publication statusPublished - 20 May 2015
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 84923572761
ORCID /0000-0002-4531-691X/work/148607951

Keywords

Keywords

  • Composites, Graphene and fullerenes, Morphology, Nanotubes, Polyolefins, Properties and characterization