Highly conductive, melt processable polymer composites based on nickel and low melting eutectic metal

Highly conductive polymers are difficult to process utilizing standard polymer approaches. This report describes a polymer composite loaded with a eutectic metal that is molten during melt processing along with a more traditional Nickel particulate filler. Conductivities over 300 S/cm were achieved, and 60 vol% metals loading was processable with a single screw extruder. The addition of the Nickel particulate was critical for maintaining eutectic dispersion. We anticipate that this approach will facilitate the implementation of conductive polymers into a broader variety of practical applications, due to the enhanced compatibility with standard polymer processing techniques such as extrusion, melt mixing, and resin transfer-molding operations. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.