Volume 12, Issue 6, 2003

Percolation and gas sensing behaviours of ternary conductive composites: vapour-grown carbon fibres/carbon black/poly(methyl methacrylate)

Xian Ming DONG1, Zhi Pei QIN1, Ruo Wen FU1, Ming Qiu ZHANG2* , Bin ZHANG2, Min Zhi RONG2

1Key Laboratory for Polymeric Composite and Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R. China

2 Materials Science Institute, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, P. R China

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

(Received 4/03; accepted 12/03)

ABSTRACT

To reduce the dosage of carbon black (CB) in conductive polymer composites, vapour-grown carbon fibre (VGCF) were incorporated in the present work. The experimental results indicated that only small amount of VGCF is sufficient to significantly improve the conductivity of the composites based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), as characterized by an additional percolation process. Besides, the ternary composites exhibit electrical responsivity to saturated ethyl acetate vapour as high as 105 in association with good reproducibility. In comparison to CB/PMMA composites having the same filler loading, VGCF/CB/PMMA composites provide higher response rate and recoverability.


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