Abstract:
The short carbon fiber-carbon nanotubes/polydimethylsiloxane (SCF-CNTs/PDMS) conductive compo-sites were prepared by spatial confining forced network assembly (SCFNA) method. The influence of SCF-CNTs/PDMS composites prepared by SCFNA method on the morphology, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the sections was studied. The results show that a dense and effective conductive network is obtained by preparing the SCF-CNTs/PDMS conductive composites by SCFNA method. The electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of the SCF-CNTs/PDMS composite are increased with low concentration fillers due to the shortened distance between the conductive fillers. Add a small amount of CNTs to SCF/PDMS with the same amount of filler, a good synergy between SCF and CNTs can be formed. The performance of SCF-CNTs/PDMS composite (the mass fraction of SCF is 8wt%, the mass fraction of CNTs is 2wt%) is found to be 33% higher in conductive properties and 144% higher in mechanical properties than the SCF/PDMS composite (the mass fraction of SCF is 10wt%). More CNTs have been added to SCF/PDMS composite. Due to the agglomeration between CNTs, the electrical and mechanical properties of the SCF-CNTs/PDMS composites decrease; as the mixing speed gradually increases from 40 r/min to 80 r/min, the CNTs agglomeration phenomenonin in the SCF-CNTs/PDMS composite(the mass fraction of SCF is 5wt%, the mass fraction of CNTs is 5wt%) is improved. Due to the increase of torque, the shearing force of the SCF is increased, and most of the SCF is crushed. In conductive composites, SCF acts as a primary connection to the conductive network. Therefore, the conductivity of SCF-CNTs/PDMS composite (the mass fraction of SCF is 5wt%, the mass fraction of CNTs is 5wt%) decreases with the increase of the mixing speed.