Effect of the fabrication method on the electrical properties of poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene)/carbon black composites

Poly(acrylonitrile-co-butadiene-co-styrene) (ABS), an engineering plastic, was combined with carbon black (CB) to increase its conductivity. The ABS/CB composites were prepared using two different methods: dissolution of ABS in Butan-2-one and manual mixing of the constituent materials. These fabrication methods led to different microstructures, which led to vastly different electrical properties. The microstructures were acquired using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy, while the electrical conductivity was obtained using impedance spectroscopy. The percolation threshold of the composites fabricated using the manual mixing method was found to be much lower (0.0054 vol.% CB) than that of the composites fabricated using the dissolution method (2.7 vol.% CB).