Production of Flaky Graphite Particles by the Exfoliation Method and their Application to Electrical Conductive Composite Films

Composite films composed of graphite particles and polymer resin should exhibit functional properties such as electrical conductivity and elasticity. This study aims to produce fine flaky graphite particles for use as electrical conductive source materials within graphite / phenol resin composite films. We prepared graphite intercalation compounds with exfoliated graphite layers due to the insertion of two types of guest molecules. Then planetary ball wet milling was performed to produce flaky graphite particles by removing the exfoliated layers of the graphite intercalation compounds. Some composite films derived from the phenol resin and the obtained flaky graphite particles displayed much higher electrical conductivities compared to films composed of feed graphite particles. Additionally, we successfully applied the grinding method proposed in this study to decrease the weight fraction of the graphite particles in the composite films, and these films exhibited high electrical conductivities.