Conductive polymer materials with low filler content

Resistivities of composites prepared by hot pressing low density polyethylene granules that were previously covered with carbon black were tested. The segregated structure formation and stability was investigated both experimentally and with use of computer simulations. Two types of resistor networks have been employed in the simulations: simple cubic with six nearest neighbors and super-networks with 26 nearest neighbors. The super-networks compensated for the lack of direct incorporation into the model of both: quantum effects and high structure of carbon black. It was demonstrated that the segregated polymer-carbon black composites had good antistatic properties at carbon black levels as low as 2-3 pphr (parts per hundred resin). (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.