Electrical and thermal properties of composite of liquid crystalline polymer filled with carbon black

The electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity of a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) filled with a commercial carbon black (CB) of various volume fractions (ϕ) is investigated. The percolation threshold (ϕc) is found at about 3%, and the resistivity (ρ) as a function of (ϕ − ϕc) satisfies the exponential function. Although the pure LCP is highly anisotropic in thermal and mechanical properties after processing, the composite samples exhibit no preferential direction for electrical conduction. Samples of ϕ below ϕc exhibit a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity while those above ϕc show almost no temperature dependence from room temperature to 200°C. In addition, the samples at lower ϕ have higher thermal conductivity in the LCP flow direction than those measured in the transverse and thickness directions, and they approach the same value at higher ϕ. This result indicates that preferential molecular alignment of the matrix LCP is responsible for the behavior of the thermal conductivity of the composites.