Structure and Electrical Conductivity of Polystyrene/Carbon Black Composites Prepared by Microlayer Coextrusion

Electrically conducting composites with a structure of alternating (A-B-A)_n layers were prepared by a novel microlayer coextrusion, which were consisted of alternating layers of polystyrene (PS) and layers of carbon black (CB)-filled polystyrene (PSCB). The co-continuous structure with selective location of CB in PSCB layers was controllable by changing the number of multiplying elements, and decreased the percolation threshold and electrical resistivity of multilayered composites because of the double percolation effect. In addition, the multilayered composites exhibited better mechanical properties than that of the conventional blends, which were related to the layered structure and small size of CB aggregates.