Electrical conductivity phenomena in an epoxy resin–carbon-based materials composite

Nanocomposites (NCs) were prepared using a thermoset commercial epoxy resin and a variety of carbon-based materials (CBMs): carbon beads and powders and 13 different commercial Carbon NanoTubes (CNTs), with the aim of comparing their performance.Electrical behaviour of NCs prepared with two CBMs weight concentrations (1 and 3 wt.%) was investigated. The more promising were selected to study their conductivity behaviour more in detail (5 different concentrations in the range 0–5 wt.%). A thorough electrical characterization, performed with the support of a Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation, allowed us to estimate the resistivities and to apply physical models such as percolation and fluctuation-mediated tunnelling theories. Several conduction behaviours have been found following CBMs type used and its concentration: highly conductive NCs, non-linear diode-like trend and highly resistive.