Controlling 3D Percolation Threshold of Conductor-Insulator Composites by Changing the Granular Size of Conductors

Abstract

The percolation threshold on a cubic lattice is estimated under a binary distribution of the sizes of the conducting particles. Although we have already investigated a similar size distribution model in 2D (where no drastic change in their percolation threshold was observed) (K. Shida, R. Sahara, M. N. Tripathi, H. Mizuseki and Y. Kawazoe: Mater. Trans. 50 (2009) 2848–2851), a 3D version of this model has not been reported before. In the 3D case, a significant decrease in the percolation threshold compared to the monodisperse cases is observed.