TECHNOLOGY | ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE R P : O T O
Driven by safety Sebastian Heitkamp, Global Marketing Segment Manager at Cabot Corporation also sees the market for electrically conductive compounds continuously growing in various plastic applica- tions. “New developments in electrically conduc- tive compounds are mainly driven by increased safety requirements across many industries,” he says. “In addition, as we see automotive manufac- turers shift towards lightweighting, plastics continu- ously replace traditional materials, such as metals, for which new functionalities in electrical conduc- tivity are required.” However, he also highlights the need to mini- mise the impact of electrically conductive additives on mechanical properties, which requires a combination of more effective and high conductiv- ity additive solutions as well as formulation design expertise. “We have worked with our customers to create solutions for a number of challenges facing the industry,” says Heitkamp. “Our latest developments include different polymer types for automotive, packaging and industrial applications. We are design- ing new formulations which combine various additive solutions to meet specific customer challenges, such as less impact on mechanical properties. Our latest develop- ments include a newly formulated Cabelec CA6483 conductive compound. This novel formulation
for ABS extrusion and thermoform- ing applications achieves very good surface resistivity paired with excellent surface quality.” Cabot’s strategy is to develop conductive
Above: CF MLD 300 G U1 is an easy-to- handle 300 micron carbon fibre granulate from Procotex with a PU sizing
solutions that exploit the particular benefits of carbon black, graphenes, carbon nanotubes and carbon nanostructures either alone or in “hybrid” formulations. Carbon nanostructures – described as three-dimensional crosslinked networks of carbon nanotubes – are the latest addition to its additive portfolio through the acquisition last year of US-based Applied Nanostructured Solutions from Lockheed Martin. The novel materials, currently produced on a pilot scale, can reduce the percolation threshold of electrically conductive carbon black formulations by creating “bridges” between the particles. The continued expansion of the global conduc- tive compound market is also forecast by Bruno Douchy, Sales Director of carbon fibre supplier Apply Carbon/Procotex. “Market expansion for these compounds is driven mainly by the growing
30 COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2019
preference for lightweight, high performance electronic products in a wide range of applications. These include solar cells, packaging, ESD and EMI protection, batteries and capacitors, for example,” he says. “Applications where ESD and EMI protection is
required are estimated to be the largest market, while the automotive market is also full of promise. For example, antistatic and conductive plastic compounds have a number of advantages over metals or surfactant coatings. Finished parts are lighter, less costly to ship and easier to handle. The production process is also easier and less expen- sive due to the elimination of secondary processes, and they are not subject to denting, chipping and scratching,” Douchy says.
Tackling cost However, he says the high cost of production of these compounds is a problem for the market. “The major factor limiting the growth of the conductive compound market is the high cost of production, including high raw material costs and the manufac- turing processes. This is why we have developed a sustainable carbon fibre solution. We can offer a wide range of carbon fibres with virtually the same quality characteristics as virgin grades, but at prices 30-50% cheaper.” One of the challenges the company faced was
to prevent dust from milled carbon fibres contami- nating the production area and potentially causing damage to electrical components. “We developed a milled carbon fibre in granulate form, which offers the best of both worlds – the advantages of milled carbon, as well as working in a dust-proof environment in a highly accurate way.” Procotex says the benefits of the milled carbon
granulates include: easy dosing; dust free feeding; mechanical reinforcement; conductivity; low cost; and easy dispersion. “While these carbon fibres have a length of 300 microns, we are also working on granulates with longer fibres of up to 1 mm. This will further improve conductivity levels and the reinforc- ing capacity of the compounds,” Douchy says. Apply-Carbon/Procotex installed a tailor-made sizing and chopping line in 2015 that produces fibres with a length of 6 mm. The company says extensive tests in both in-house and external laboratories, followed by production scale tests at different compounders, show that the properties of the product are almost identical to virgin grade chopped fibres. The oversized fibres are well bundled using an optimal sizing agent, which is compatible with any specific resin and helps to improve the workability in any application or process.
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