Polymer blends filled with carbon black: structure and electrical properties

Morphology and electrical conductivity of polymer blends based on polypropylene, polyethylene, polyoxymethylene, polyamide 12, co-polymer ABS filled with carbon black (CB) were studied. When filler is introduced in polymer blend, three cases of filler spatial distribution can be obtained. CB can be distributed randomly within polymer matrix, can be situated in one of the polymer components or can be localized on the boundary of the polymer components. The existence of different cases of filled blends structure is defined by following reasons: thermodynamic factors (relationship between interface surface tensions of polymer-filler γpf and polymer-polymer surface tension γpp); kinetic factors (relationship between viscosities of polymer components); processing factors (methods of the filler introduction in the complex polymer matrix, which can enhance or depress the influence of thermodynamic and kinetic factors).