Preparation of the polypropylene/nickel coated glass fibers conductive composites with a low percolation threshold

• Conductive PP/Ni coated glass fibers composites were prepared successfully.
• Ni coating on the surface of glass fibers formed a continuous conductive network.
• Electrical conductivity of composite (8.7 S/cm) was achieved with low content of Ni.
• Electrical percolation threshold of conductive composite was as low as 0.46 vol%.

In this work, conductive polypropylene composites with a low percolation threshold were fabricated by loading nickel coated glass fibers which were prepared via electroless plating by our group. The incorporation of nickel coated glass fibers could greatly improve the electrical conductivity of polypropylene. Owning to the high aspect ratio of glass fibers, they could easily connect with each other and construct the network structure in polymer matrix. Thus the conductive Ni layer coating on the surface of glass fibers formed a continuous conductive network successfully, attributing to its well distribution at the interface between glass fiber and polypropylene. As a result, the superior electrical conductivity of the composite (8.7 S/cm) was achieved with a relatively low content of Ni (1.17 vol%), and the electrical percolation threshold of the conductive composite was as low as 0.46 vol%.