Influence of Conductive Carbon Black from Waste Rubber Tire on Electrical and Mechanical Response of Polymer Composites
Chetan Sheth1, B. R. Parekh2, L. M. Manocha3, Parul Sheth4
1Chetan Sheth, Electrical Engg. Dept., G. H. Patel college of Engg. & Tech., V.V. Nagar, Gujarat, India.
2B. R. Parekh, Electrical Engg. Dept., BVM Engg. College, V.V. Nagar, Gujarat, India.
3L. M. Manocha, Materials Science Dept., SPU, V.V. Nagar, Gujarat, India.
4Parul Sheth, Materials Science Dept., SPU, V.V. Nagar, Gujarat, India.
Manuscript received on October 14, 2013. | Revised Manuscript Received on October 19, 2013. | Manuscript published on October 20, 2013. | PP: 5-10 | Volume-1, Issue-11, October 2013. | Retrieval Number: K03201011113/2013©BEIESP
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© The Authors. Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: The aim of this work has been to assess the influence of the conductive filler loading which is Carbon black from waste rubber tire into a polymer matrix such as epoxy resin on the electrical and mechanical properties of the composite. The attention was focused on a possible percolation effect due to the increasing conductive filler loading on DC electrical conductivity and the effect on bulk hardness and micro hardness with enhanced electrical and mechanical properties. Electrical and mechanical tests were performed on specimens showing an increased electrical conductivity along with bulk hardness and micro hardness of the composite with increasing filler loading. The electrical percolation threshold is found at low weight percentage of filler loading. The percentage weight loading of the carbon black ranged from 1% to 15%. The most notable feature of the present work is that we found a correlation of the percolation threshold concentration (Øc ), which is detected from the DC electrical conductivity with micro hardness. This paper reports the DC electrical conductivity, bulk hardness and micro-hardness properties of composites with different amounts of filler content. Experimental measurements and microscopic observations of the epoxy composites are discussed in detail. The optical images also revealed that at critical filler concentration (Øc ) carbon black particles form the conductive network. Thanks to a sensitive measurement technique using high resistance electrometer, we are able to measure the accurate DC electrical conductivity.
Keywords: Polymer matrix, composites, conductive fillers, DC conductivity, bulk hardness, micro hardness, epoxy resin, carbon black, percolation threshold, morphology.