Conductivity spectroscopy on melt processed polypropylene–multiwalled carbon nanotube composites: Recovery after shear and crystallization

Frequency dependent investigations of conductivity and dielectric permittivity have been performed on composites of polypropylene (PP) containing different amounts of 2, 3.5, and 5 wt% of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in the melt and during crystallization. The experiments were performed in a measurement slit die containing two dielectric sensors in plate–plate geometry, which was flanged to the outlet of a single screw laboratory extruder. AC conductivity and the related complex permittivity were measured in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 106 Hz after stopping the extruder (recovery after shearing) and during cooling (non-isothermal crystallization). For a sample with a MWNT content of 2 wt% the AC conductivity shows a tremendous increase with time after shearing was stopped. This conductivity recovery is explained by the reorganization of the conducting network-like filler structure, which was partially destroyed by the shear. The reformation kinetics of filler clusters is assumed to be due to a cooperative aggregation. For conductive fillers in a thermoplastic matrix the kinetics of cooperative aggregation is coupled to the electrical percolation. The reorganization of the percolation network can be related to reformation of (i) the local contact regions between the nanotubes (separated by polymer chains) and (ii) to the reorientation of nanotubes oriented in the shear flow. The conductivity recovery is less pronounced for samples with MWNT concentrations well above the percolation threshold. During cooling of the melt to temperatures below crystallization a significant decrease in the conductivity and permittivity was detected. This is consistently expressed in the conductivity and permittivity spectra and can be explained by reduction of the amorphous phase (high ion mobility) on expense of the crystalline phase and/or by crystalline regions in the contact region between tubes.