In this paper, an analytical model is developed for electrical conductivity of nanocomposites, particularly polymer/carbon nanotubes nanocomposites. This model considers the effects of aspect ratio, concentration, waviness, conductivity and percolation threshold of nanoparticles, interphase thickness, wettability between polymer and filler, tunneling distance between nanoparticles and network fraction on the conductivity. The developed model is confirmed by experimental results and parametric studies. The calculations show good agreement with the experimental data of different samples. The concentration and aspect ratio of nanoparticles directly control the conductivity. Moreover, a smaller distance between nanoparticles increases the conductivity based on the tunneling mechanism. A thick interphase also causes an increased conductivity, because the interphase regions participate in the networks and enhance the effectiveness of nanoparticles.

Effects of interphase regions and tunneling distance on the electrical conductivity of polymer carbon nanotubes nanocomposites
    Abstract
    1 Introduction
    2 Theoretical analysis
    3 Results and discussion
        3.1 Comparison between experimental and theoretical conductivities
        3.2 Parametric studies
    4 Conclusions
    References

• Yasser Zare(Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University)
• Vesna Mišković‑Stanković(Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University)
• Kyong Yop Rhee(Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University)