New energy concepts are required for an ever-increasing emphasis on improving the efficiency of electricity transmission and utilization of energy efficient materials as semi conductive adhesives, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields, electrostatic discharge materials (ESD) materials, etc. which can be potentially met by the polymeric hybid materials. Such materials have been effectively used to curtail the energy crisis due to their manifold properties which enhance the efficiency as well as the durabilty of the devices and as such reduce the material and energy consumption.Metallization of alumina by electroless (EL) deposition of Cu has paved new ways for ceramics to be used as energy efficient electro-conductors. Herein we report the preparation of Cu coated alumina powder via EL plating.Effect of plating time on the crystallite size of deposited Cu was analyzed by varying deposition times which showed maximum growth of Cu crystallite at 30 minutes with an average crystallite size of 26.116 nm as confirmed by XRD.SEM micrographs of prepared Cu-Al2O3 filler exhibited uniform growth of Cu onto Al2O3 surface.Electrically conductive composites with improved mechanical properties were synthesized by incorporating prepared Cu coated Al2O3 particles as filler into two types of polymers. Block copolymer (poly styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) and homopolymer (poly styrene) matrix composites were fabricated by varying Cu-Al2O3 loading.Filler loading of 21 wt. % exhibited maximum drop in surface resistivity in both systems.Surface resistivity value of PS-PMMA based composite dropped to 8.0×107 Ω/□ while PS based composite revealed surface resistivity value of 1.0×108 Ω/□. At maximum filler loading, increment in the values of Young’s modulus up to 1122 MPa and 1053.9 MPa was observed in PS-PMMA and PS matrix composites, respectively.Tensile strength of Cu-Al2O3 /PS-PMMA composites had a decreasing trend while that of Cu-Al2O3 /PS composites showed an increasing trend with the incorporation filler loading. Elongation at break depicted a decreasing trend in relation to filler loading. SEM images were taken for surface studies.TGA demonstrated increase in thermal stability of composites with increased filler loading. DSC showed increase in glass transition temperature (Tg) with the incorporation of Cu-Al2O3 into PS-PMMA matrix while Tg of PS composites exhibited no significant change.The prepared films can have potential application as energy efficient systems.

Fabrication of energy efficient conductive composites using nonconducting polymeric materials

249th National Meeting (2015)

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