Contact resistance of multi-walled carbon nanotube/natural rubber nanocomposites with metallic ball

•The contact resistance between MWCNT/NR nanocomposites and gold was investigated.•The hardness of the nanocomposite is important controlling the contact resistance.•The specific contact resistance was independent of the size (crystallinity) of MWCNT.

This paper reports on the contact resistance (Rc) between carbon filler/natural rubber (NR) nanocomposite and gold ball: three varieties of nanocomposites were prepared from carbon black (CB) and two kinds of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with different diameter. Rc of MWCNT/NR nanocomposite was remarkably less than that of CB/NR nanocomposites. The relationship between Rc of MWCNT/NR nanocomposites and applied load was expressed in the formula, Rc=C·P−n (P: load, C and n: constant): for the MWCNTs (diameters of 13 nm)/NR and MWCNTs (diameters of 67 nm)/ NR nanocomposites, they were expressed as Rc=1724·P−0.6 and Rc=344·P−0.37, respectively. The former (MWCNT, ϕ13 nm) showed higher Rc than the latter (MWCNT, ϕ67 nm) over whole region of applied load. The mechanical hardness of the former was higher (90 HsA) than that of the latter (82 HsA). Therefore, the smaller contact area between the nanocomposite and gold ball of the former resulted in higher Rc. The apparent specific contact resistivity was calculated from the observed values of Rc and contact area: 130 Ω mm2 and 127 Ω mm2 for the former (MWCNT, ϕ13 nm) and the latter (MWCNT, ϕ67 nm), respectively.