The effect of crosslinking degree on the piezoresistive behavior of carbon black(CB) filled poly(methyl vinyl siloxane)(PMVS) vulcanites under uniaxial compression was studied.The results reveal that increasing the amount of crosslinking agent could weaken the negative pressure coefficient of resistance(NPCR) effect at the late stage of compression and enhance the piezoresistivity intensity at a high stresses.The recovery property of resistance was related to the content of CB,the stress level and the degree of crosslinking.It was proved that repeated compression with the same maximum stress level could improve piezoresistive stability considerably.
The dynamic rheological measurements have been a preferred approach to the characterization of the structure and properties for multi-component or multi-phase polymer systems, due to its sensitive response to changes of structure for these heterogeneous polymers. In the present article, recent progresses in the studies on dynamic theology for heterogeneous polymer systems including polymeric composites filled with inorganic particles, thermo-oxidized polyolefins, phaseseparated polymeric blends and functional polymers with the scaling and percolation behavior are reviewed, mainly depending on the results by the authors' group. By means of rheological measurements, not only some new fingerprints responsible for the evolution of morphology and structure concerning these polymer systems are obtained, the corresponding results are also significant for the design and preparation of novel polymer-based composites and functional materials.
The blends prepared by incorporation of carbon black (CB) or graphite powder (GP) inHto high-density polyethylene (HDPE) matrix have been novel and extensively applied polymeric positive temperature coefficient (PTC) composites. A phenomenological model was proposed on the basis of the GEM equation and the dilution effect of filler volume fraction due to the thermal volume expansion of the polymer matrix. Accordingly, the contribution of the thermal expansion of the matrix to the jump-like PTC transition of the composites was quantitatively estimated and a mechanical explanation was given. It was proved that the contribution of the volume expansion to PTC effect decreased for HDPE/CB composites crosslinked through electron-beam irradiation. Furthermore, the influences of the filler content, temperature and crosslinking on the self-heating behavior as well as the nonlinear conduction characteristics at electrical-thermal equilibrium state were examined. Based on the electric-field and initial resistivity dependence of the self-heating temperature and resistance dependence of the critical field, the mechanisms of the self-heating of the polymeric PTC materials were evaluated. The intrinsic relations between macroscopic electrical properties and microscopic percolation network at electrical-thermal equilibrium state were discussed according to the scaling relationship between the self-heating critical parameter and the conductivity of materials.
Melt extrusion was used to prepare binary nanocomposites of ethylene copolymers and organoclay and trinary nanocomposites of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene copolymer and organoclay. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to analyze the structure of the clay phase and the morphology of the nanocomposites. Influences of the comonomer in the copolymer and the content of the copolymer on the morphology of the resulting nanocomposites were discussed. The binary and the trinary composites may form intercalated or exfoliated structures depending on the interaction between the copolymer and the clay layers and the content of the copolymer.
The influence of the condensed structure of poly(styrene-co-acrylonitrile) (SAN) and traces of tetrahydrofuran (THF) that remained in titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc)/SAN films after fabrication on the photoconductive stability of TiOPc/SAN composites is studied. The results reveal that the existence of traces of THF results in the increase of the photoconductivity and the charging voltage. The main factors responsible for the unstable photoconductivity of the photoconductors are believed to be the relaxation of SAN and the slow volatilization of THF.
