Electrical conductivity of poly(ethylene terephthalate)/expanded graphite nanocomposites prepared by in situ polymerization

Nanocomposites based on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and expanded graphite (EG) have been prepared by in situ polymerization. Morphology of the nanocomposites has been examined by electronic microscopy. The relationship between the preparation method, morphology, and electrical conductivity was studied. Electronic microscopy images reveal that the nanocomposites exhibit well dispersed graphene platelets. The incorporation of EG to the PET results in a sharp insulator-to-conductor transition with a percolation threshold (φ c) as low as 0.05 wt %. An electrical conductivity of 10 -3 S/cm was achieved for 0.4 wt % of EG. The low percolation threshold and relatively high electrical conductivity are attributed to the high aspect ratio, large surface area, and uniform dispersion of the EG sheets in PET matrix. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Financial support from the Polish National Science Centre and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in the frame of ERA-NET project APGRAPHEL and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN), Grant MAT2009-07789. European Reintegration Grant FP7-ERG-213085 ‘‘ORITUPOCO.’’ JAE-Doc program of CSIC.