Electrically conductive alumina–carbon nanocomposites prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering

✍ Scribed by Fawad Inam; Haixue Yan; Daniel D. Jayaseelan; Ton Peijs; Michael J. Reece

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 618 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0955-2219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2009.05.045

✦ Synopsis

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon black were added to alumina to convert it into a good electrical conductor. Alumina-CNT and alumina-carbon black nanocomposites were fabricated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). The electrical conductivity of alumina-CNT nanocomposites was found to be four times higher as compared to alumina-carbon black nanocomposites due to the fibrous nature and high aspect ratio of CNTs. The electrical conductivity of alumina-CNT nanocomposite increased with increasing grain size due to increasing density of CNTs at the grain boundaries. This effect was not observed for alumina-carbon black nanocomposite due to the particulate geometry of the carbon black.