Conductive plastic

Conductive plastics are functional polymer materials that mix resin and conductive substances and process them by processing plastics. Mainly used in electronics, integrated circuit packaging, electromagnetic wave shielding and other fields.

1. According to the classification of electrical properties, it can be divided into: insulator, anti-static body, electrical conductor, high conductor. Usually the resistance value above 1010Ω·cm is called an insulator; The resistance value in the range of 104~109Ω·cm is called a semiconductor or antistatic body; A conductor with a resistance value below 104Ω·cm is called a conductor; A high conductor with a resistance value of 100 Ω·cm or less or even less.

2. According to the classification of conductive plastic production method, it can be divided into structural conductive plastic and composite conductive plastic. Structural conductive plastics, also known as intrinsic conductive plastics, refer to plastics that are conductive or chemically modified. Structural polymer conductive materials mainly include: (1) π conjugated polymers:

such as polyacetylene, (Sr)N, linear polybenzene, layered polymers, etc.;

(2) Metal chelates: such as polyketophthalocyanine;

(3) Charge-moving polymer complexes: such as polycations, CQ complexes.

This type of polymer material has high production cost, difficult process, so far there is no mass production, widely used conductive polymer materials are generally composite polymer materials, its filling substances mainly include:

a, metal dispersion system; b. Carbon black series; c. Organic complex dispersion system.

3. According to the different classifications of uses, it can be divided into: antistatic materials, conductive materials and electromagnetic wave shielding materials.

Conductive plastics have not only developed rapidly in the application of antistatic additives, computer anti-electromagnetic screens and smart windows, but also have a wide range of application prospects in the fields of light-emitting diodes, solar cells, mobile phones, miniature TV screens and even life science research. In addition, the combination of conductive plastics and nanotechnology will also promote the rapid development of molecular electronics. In the future, humans can not only greatly increase the computing speed of computers, but also reduce the size of computers. Therefore, there are predictions that the laptop of the future could fit into a watch.

We generally think that plastic is extremely poorly conductive and is therefore used to make insulating jackets for wires. But researchers in Australia found that when an extremely thin metal film is covered with a plastic layer and mixed into the surface of the polymer with the help of an ion beam, a low-priced, strong, tough, and conductive plastic film can be generated.

The team that achieved this was led by two experts from the University of Queensland in Australia, Professor Paul Meredith and Assistant Professor Ben Powell, and an expert from the University of New South Wales, Professor Adam Micolich. Their results have been published in the journal ChemPhysChem. The experiment on which the study was based was conducted by Andrew Stephenson, a former University of Queensland PhD student. Ion beam technology is widely used in the microelectronics industry to test the conductivity of semiconductors such as silicon wafers. However, the attempt to apply this technology to plastic film materials has only started in the 80s of the last century, and has not made much progress until now. Professor Meredith said: "The work done by this group is simply to use ion beam technology to change the properties of plastic film materials, so that they have metal-like functions, can conduct electricity like the wire itself, and can even become superconductors, when the temperature is low to a certain extent, the resistance becomes zero.

To show the potential application value of this material, the group used this material to make resistance thermometers with reference to industry standards. When compared with platinum resistance thermometers of the same type, the products made of the new material showed similar, or even superior, performance. "What's interesting about this material is that we retain almost all the advantages of polymers – mechanical flexibility, high strength, low cost, but at the same time it has good electrical conductivity, which is not usually a property of plastics." Professor Mikaulin said. "This material opens up a whole new world of plastic conductors."