Properties of graphite/epoxy composites: The in-plane conductivity, tensile strength and Shore hardness

Abstract

Graphite/epoxy composites have the potential to be used as conductive polymer composites (CPCs). Nevertheles, graphite/epoxy composites have a low in-plane conductivity, so a large amount of conductive filler is needed to increase the in-plane conductivity. However, other composite properties can be affected if the conductive filler content is too high. The casting method was used to produce graphite/epoxy composites in this study. Graphite was added to an epoxy resin at various weight percentage (wt%), curing times, and curing temperatures. The result show that a graphite/epoxy composite with 80 wt% of graphite at curing temperature of 130 °C and a curing time of 120 minutes produce the highest in-plane conductivity and shore hardness of 28 S/cm and 94.88 SHD, respectively. In contrast, the highest tensile strength of the graphite/epoxy composite (18.5 N/mm 2 ) was obtained with 65 wt% of conductive filler material, the lowest amount considered in this study. This is due to the reduced ability of epoxy resins to bind to higher amounts of conductive fillers (e.g., 80 wt%). ©.