Conductive polymer nanocomposites for novel heating elements

Abstract

Electrical and thermal properties of composites based on high-density polyethylene filled with nanofillers, namely carbon black (CB), carbon fiber (CF) and their mixture, were investigated under alternating current. The composite samples were prepared by thermal pressing from the mechanically mixed blend. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) was used as matrix. The nanofiller content was chosen to be 8 vol% for CF and 8, 12, 16, 30 vol% for CB. This content is higher loading than the percolation threshold and guarantees sufficient heating. The electrical resistivity of the abovementioned composites decreased significantly from 1012 Ω/cm to ~101–102 Ω/cm with increasing of the CF/CB content. When a certain voltage was applied to the composites, the equilibrium temperature of the surface of the composite was reached within less than 100 s. The maximum surface temperature as the equilibrium state of the composite samples can be easily controlled by adjusting the composites filler ratio.