Electrical Conductivity of Ion-doped Graphite/Polyethersulphone Composites

J Jin (1) , S Leesirisan (1) , M Song (1)

1 Department of Materials [Loughborough]

The electrical conductivity of polyethersulphone (PES) insulating polymer was improved by incorporation of electrically conductive graphite and ions. An initial conducting pathway of the PES/graphite composites was formed at lower than 3 wt% of the filler content. LiCl was found to be an effective dopant for the improvement of the electrical conductivities of the PES/graphite composites. By doping with 0.06 wt% of LiCl the electrical conductivity was enhanced by 2 orders of magnitude. The enhancement resulted from intercalation of Li ions into interlayer spaces of the graphite. Upon intercalation, an acceptor GIC, Li-GIC, was consequently formed. The stability of the improved electrical conductivities of the composites contributed with doped ions was assessed. The electrical conductivity of both undoped and doped graphite/PES composites slightly increased with increasing temperature and slightly decreased by physical ageing. The enhancement of the electrical conductivities by doping ions was stable at the high temperatures.

Mots clés: Polyethersulphone; graphite; doping; ions; electrical conductivity

J Jin, S Leesirisan, M Song. Electrical Conductivity of Ion-doped Graphite/Polyethersulphone Composites. Composites Science and Technology, 2010, 70 (10), pp.1544. ⟨10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.05.017⟩. ⟨hal-00657649⟩