Electrically conductive charcoal powder/ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene composites

Electrically conductive polymer composites of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) filled with charcoal powder were prepared by extrusion and hot-compression methods. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the interfaces between UHMWPE and charcoal powder. The results showed that charcoal powder could have strong interfacial interaction with UHMWPE and good dispersion was achieved. The electrical conductivity of the composite was reported as the function of charcoal powder concentration. At 80 wt% charcoal powder loading, the composite exhibited an electrical conductivity of 1.2 S/cm, which is adequate for many electrical applications. Furthermore, it is obvious that while increasing charcoal powder concentration resulted in increased tensile properties, the tensile strength significantly increased by 230% for the sample containing 70 wt% charcoal powder compared to neat UHMWPE. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.