Conductive polymer composites have many applications such as antistatic materials, lightweight shielding materials, wearable electronics and conductive glues. The electrical conductivity of nickel-filled epoxy resin (ER) composites was significantly improved by the addition of a low amount of carbon black (CB) by decreasing the percolation threshold of ER/Ni composites (7.5 vol.%). In order to reach electrical conductivity 10<sup>-5</sup> S/cm, the necessary amount of Ni in ER was decreased from 8 vol. % to only 3 vol. % with the addition of 2 vol. % of CB. The decrease of Ni content leads to low-cost production of a lighter final product, due to the lowered density of composite. Prior to physical sample preparation, ER/Ni/CB hybrid composites were simulated by the Monte Carlo method (using commercial software Digimat-FE 6.1.1). Results of simulations were found to be quite precise and comparable with prepared samples. This achievement proved, that computer simulations can be successfully used to evaluate the electrical conductivity of hybrid polymer composites combining fundamentally different fillers (metal and carbon). Selected ER/Ni/CB composites were tested by lap shear test to evaluate the ability of these materials to be used as conductive glues as an alternative to soldering. Composite materials containing CB had higher adhesion than ER/Ni composites as well as neat ER. Another focus of this work is the usage of ER/Ni/CB composites for electromagnetic shielding applications. The addition of CB improved the total shielding efficiency of ER/Ni/CB composites compared to ER/Ni depending on the used concentration. This improvement can be attributed to an increase in reflective losses due to increased conductivity.

Monte Carlo simulation and experimental study of electrically conductive hybrid nanocomposites

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ACS Fall 2022

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