I–V characteristics and electro-mechanical response of different carbon black/epoxy composites

I–V characteristics and electro-mechanical response of carbon black (CB)/epoxy composites were studied experimentally. Two types of CB were used in the experiment, they were: sprayed CB and conductive CB particles. During the experiment, it was found that the I–V characteristics of the composites and their electro-mechanical response were greatly affected by the particle size of CB as well as their dispersion properties. The epoxy containing sprayed CB with the diameter of 123 nm composites gave predicted relationships, in terms of I–V characteristics and strain/electrical resistivity once they were subjected to a compressive load. The electrical breakdown assumption incorporated in the DC circuit model is proposed in this paper to interpret the response of the composites with different types of CB particles.