Segregated Conductive Ultrahigh-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene Composites Containing High-Density Polyethylene as Carrier Polymer of Graphene Nanosheets

Abstract

This article reports a novel conductive ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) composite with a segregated and double percolated structure, in which graphene nanosheets (GNSs) form prefect conductive pathways in the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and the GNS/HDPE component forms continuous conductive layers at the interface between the UHMWPE granules. The combination of segregated and double-percolated GNS conductive network achieved an ultralow percolation of 0.05 vol. %. Structural observations and the determination of the critical exponent t-value obtained from the classical threshold mechanism indicate the formation of a two-dimensional GNS network in GNS/HDPE/UHMWPE composites. Comparison of the electrical performance of GNS and CNT-filled segregated composites indicated that the geometry of the conductive nanoparticles can greatly affect the dimensionality of the segregated conductive network.

Keywords:

• Conductive polymer composites
• Graphene nanosheets
• Percolation threshold
• Segregated structure

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The project was funded by the State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Dong Hua University (Contract No. LK1006) and NSF of China (Contract No. 21176158, U1162131 and 20976112).