COMPOUNDS | ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE
Right: Cabot says its CNS compounds are less dusty and easier to process than traditional CNT alternatives
3D printing. Interest in filament-based 3D print technologies (such as FDM and FFF) has boomed over the past few years but Claes says the conduc- tive market is still in its infancy, mostly because of dispersion issues and degradation of mechanical properties. Nanocyl now has products targeted at this market that he says exhibit superior dispersion and properties (high electrical conductivity level at low loading, good mechanical properties, and very good processability). Meanwhile, in more traditional markets such as specialty cables NC7000-based solutions are being used to replace the conductive (copper) or dissipa- tive layer, imparting better flexibility, lightweight and increased manufacturing throughputs, says Claes. “With the strengthening of ATEX standards, electrically conductive materials are now a must- have for more and more industrial applications — physical grounding is less and less accepted by the standards and therefore a truly conductive material is now necessary. NC7000 based compounds are a unique solution to impart such properties without affecting any other performances,” he says.
Alternative structures Cabot Corporation recently expanded its portfolio of advanced carbons to include Athlos carbon nanostructures (CNS), a family of materials the company claims are unique and which consist of a network of crosslinked carbon nanotubes manufac- tured using a proprietary process it acquired from Lockheed Martin back in 2018. It says they enable an optimal balance of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, conductivity, mechanical strength and processability.
“Athlos CNS deliver unmatched EMI shielding performance relative to other carbon additives,” the company says. “The addition of Athlos CNS to EMI shielding solutions enables significant light- weighting and miniaturisation advantages by replacing or reducing the loading of traditional metal-based alternatives. Additionally, using Athlos CNS can improve industrial hygiene compared to other conductive carbon additives by reducing dust contamination during processing.” CarbonX, which makes a conductive porous carbon material of the same name, says it has expe- rienced “exponential” growth over the past 12 months. After ramping up accessible capacity from 50 to 200,000 tonnes/yr, it says it has now entered a commercial phase with five key grades currently on offer. These grades differ in terms of basic properties such as surface area (ranging from 44 to 189 m2
/g) and pore size. CarbonX has also part-
nered with carbon black production facilities in China and the US. The material, developed within the chemistry
laboratories of Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, enables lightweight, isotropically electrically and thermally conductive solutions for plastic materials. Compared to “regular” carbon black, CarbonX says its particles are smaller and display a narrower size distribution while aggre- gates have higher pore strength. Carbon-X materials comprise chemically-linked
Figure 1: Chart showing typical compound volume resistivity at various loadings of highly conductive carbon black (CB), multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), and carbon nano-structures (CNS) Source: Cabot Corporation
44 COMPOUNDING WORLD | February 2020
nano-fibres formed into a 3D-network, which the company says allows for good mixing and a good interaction with many polymers. The materials are said to provide similar strength levels as glass fibres in formulated compounds. “We believe more and more challenges in the thermoplastic market will come from the imple- mentation of the Industrial Internet of Things and automobile electrification,” says Roberto Calde- rone, Head of Marketing at the company. The rapid development cycles typical of these
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IMAGE: CABOT CORP
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