2024 Volume 45 Issue 4 Pages 176-185
Electrically conductive epoxy blends containing small amounts of silver (Ag) fillers have been investigated.Specifically, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol-F (DGEBF) / methacrylate monomer blends were polymerized and cured tformulate matrix resins for the electrically conductive polymer composites. Isobonyl methacrylate (IBMA) was comparedwith dicyclopentenyloxyethyl methacrylate (DPOMA) as the methacrylate monomer. The DGEBF / 40 wt.% IBMA and the DGEBF / 40 wt.% DPOMA polymer blends formed co-continuous phase structures in the cured composites. The Ag fillers were selectively localized in the methacrylate-rich polymer phases of the blends. The mechanism of the selective placement of Ag fillers was discussed in terms of the affinity among epoxy, methacrylate polymer and Ag fillers by measuring theirHansen solubility parameters. The Ag filler was present in the self-assembled narrow region, forming a conductive channel. Compared to the epoxy without methacrylate blends, the methacrylate blends showed conductivity even with lower Ag filler content.
