Electrical properties of ABS resin reinforced with recycled CFRP

Composite materials consisting of crushed carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) pieces and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin were prepared by an injection mold method to solve the problem of recycling of CFRP. The electrical properties, such as electrical resistivity, alternating current impedance and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effect, were measured for the composites. The electrical resistivity of the composites showed a percolation type of conduction behavior and no difference between parallel and perpendicular to the injection direction was observed for CFRP content higher than the critical value. Measurement of alternating current impedance revealed that the conduction mechanism is attributed to the direct conductive paths generated by distributed carbon fibers; however, strong frequency dependence of the impedance was observed for the CFRP content near the critical one. The frequency dependence of the impedance is caused by the inter-fiber connection and can be expressed as a simple equivalent circuit. The absorption component of shielding effect (SE) was smaller than the expected value estimated from its resistivity. The decline of SE is thought to be caused by the decrease in effective thickness due to fiber orientation.