Thermal and electrical properties of poly(phenylene sulfide)/carbon nanotube nanocomposite films with a segregated structure

Structurally segregated poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS)-based nanocomposite films containing multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) of 0.5-10.0 wt% were manufactured by solid-mixing and following melt-compression. The cross-sectional optical and electron microscopic images of the nanocomposite films revealed that MWCNTs form a segregated and percolated conductive network structure in the PPS matrix. DSC and TGA data demonstrated that melt-crystallization temperatures and thermal degradation temperatures of the nanocomposite films are slightly increased with the MWCNT content, which are owing to the nucleating agent and thermal protection effects of MWCNTs, respectively. The electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite films increased significantly from ∼10−10 to ∼0.11 S/cm with the increment of the MWCNT content from 0.0 to 10.0 wt%, especially at a low percolation threshold of ∼0.33 wt% MWCNT. Accordingly, PPS-based nanocomposite films with 1.0-10.0 wt% MWCNT exhibited high performance in electrical resistive heating behavior under applied voltages of 5-100 V by achieving steady-state maximum temperatures of 30-190 °C within a relatively short period of time of ∼10 s.