Characterization of designed, transparent and conductive Al doped ZnO particles and their utilization in conductive polymer composites

摘要

Conducting polymer composites (CPCs) are employed as antistatic coating materials where conductive fillers are dispersed in polymeric matrices. MicNo (=Micron+naNo) polygonal platelets are composed of nano-sized primary particles that exhibit both micron and nano size characteristics. In this study, the role of aluminum (Al) doping on physicochemical characteristics of MicNo-ZnO and the resultant effects on optoelectronic properties were investigated. Morever, the possibility of using such particles in CPC systems for antistatic coatings was also explored. It is shown that Al-doped powders lowers the bulk resistivity of polymers without inducing significant structural changes. For instance, powders with 0.3 mol % Al doping exhibits approximate to 40 K Omega.cm bulk resistivity which is two orders of magnitude lower than that of undoped sample. Addition of 10 wt% doped powder into epoxy resin reduces the resistivity from approximate to 6 M Omega.cm to approximate to 1.7 M Omega.cm. The results show that Al-doped MicNo powders are suitable for utilization in CPCs. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All tights reserved.