MATERIALS | ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY


continued miniaturisation of electronic compo- nents has significantly increased sensitivity to electrostatic discharge. “Uncontrolled static can lead to immediate damage or latent failures during production, handling, and transportation. At the same time, increasingly stringent safety regulations – particularly in ATEX environments – require electrically conductive materials to reduce fire and explosion risks. Because most polymers are inherently insulating, conductive compounds have become essential to enable controlled and reliable dissipation of static charges,” said Megally.


Carbon blends Birla Carbon has developed a carbon black-CNT blend designed for ESD applications in polymers including PP, HIPS, and PC. A small amount of CNTs in a carbon black masterbatch significantly boosts electrical conductivity, said the company. Custom- ers can tailor the loading level of the blend to meet their specific application needs. “A pre-dispersed carbon black-CNT blended system offers multiple advantages for customer applications,” said Birla Carbon. “It enables lower overall conductive filler loading in compounds compared to conventional carbon blacks, which helps maintain mechanical properties and improve impact strength. From an operational perspective, the pre-dispersed format simplifies material handling, minimises dust generation, and reduces the need for special handling requirements – ulti- mately lowering operational costs for customers.” Some conductive additives allow packaging to


be transparent or in colours other than black. ESD packaging for the semiconductor industry, for example, is a growing application in the US, and transparent packaging provides the ability to scan QR codes on the product inside, said Ryusuke Watanabe, R&D Manager of Sanyo Chemical Americas, which offers Pelectron inherently dissipative polymer (IDP) additives for permanent antistatic and ESD protection. Pelectron additives are used in a wide range of


applications for their conductive properties. In injection or blow moulded parts and extruded film and sheet, the additives form a conductive network in the surface layer under the high shear of the conversion process. Rotomoulding, by contrast, is a low-shear


process. Sanyo Chemical Americas and com- pounder PolyChem Alloy recently collaborated to launch a novel micropellet solution that provides antistatic and ESD protection to rotomoulded parts, such as industrial or agricultural storage tanks, fuel tanks, or playground equipment. The


36 COMPOUNDING WORLD | January/February 2026


Surface resistivity vs. Pelectron PVL loading (wt%) in LDPE Source: Sanyo Chemical


team jointly developed a compounding solution that doesn’t require shear in the converting step. Another challenge was that rotomoulding typically uses pulverised or powdered materials. Although these powders can be dry-blended with master- batches, the resulting dispersion in the rotomould- ed part may not be adequate for all applications. The new micropellet solution is a fully formu-


lated compound, made by PolyChem Alloy, that contains Sanyo’s antistatic additive as well as any other additives and colour requested by the user. Compared to powder, the non-dusting micropel- lets are more consistent in size and shape; they provide a much cleaner process, more uniform wall thickness, and reduce explosion risk. “Pellet size is important – we can now produce


micropellets at 300 microns,” said Ashton Barlow, Operations Manager at PolyChem Alloy. “Shape is also important. The micropellet shape was opti- mised to provide flowability that functions like pow- der in the mould.” The improved flowability allows accurate manufacturing of detailed parts as well as consist- ent quality and efficiency. Initial products are available in LLDPE and HDPE, but the micropel- letising technique is applicable to a wide range of polymers, such as EVA, polyamide 11, and TPU, the companies said.


Conductive LCP compounds Engineering thermoplastics supplier Celanese is seeing significant interest at manufacturers of electrical and electronic devices in electrically conductive liquid crystal polymer (LCP) compounds, said Michael Schaefer, Senior Engineer, Product Technology at Celanese. The company’s Vectra LCP is used to mould very thin-walled applications for electrical devices and personal electronics. Typically,


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