Electrical Responses of Carbon Black Filled Silicone Rubber to Uniaxial Cyclic Loading

Abstract

The electrical responses of carbon black filled silicone rubber to cyclic loading were investigated by electrical resistance measurements. Results indicated that the resistance of specimen appeared irreversible decrease in the earlier cycles of the first group test. The relation of the resistance and uniaxial cyclic loading are repeatable after 5 cycles while the irreversible micro-cracks are almost no longer generated. The resistance of each effective conductive path, the number of effective conductive path and average effective cross-sectional area of the insulating film between the adjacent conductive particles are key factors of the piezoresistivity.

Microelectromechanical strain and pressure sensors based on electric field aligned carbon cone and carbon black particles in a silicone elastomer matrix

“…Furthermore, it is preferable to use elastomers as dielectric matrices in order to obtain electrically conductive composites with large and reversible electromechanical effects. [11][12][13][14][15] Elastomers have the inherent advantage of being more deformable than glassy polymers. Their so called hyperelasticity allows for mechanical durability and elongation at break as large as 1000%.…”

“…6 Electrically conductive polymer composites have been demonstrated as inexpensive and efficient materials sensitive to pressure variation, deformation, and temperature. 7,8 These materials can be made by dispersing high concentrations of electrically conductive particles, for instance, carbon black (CB) particles [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] or metal particles, [16][17][18] in dielectric polymer matrices. The dispersed particles will form electrically conductive pathways in the polymer matrix if the particle concentration is sufficiently high, above the percolation threshold.…”