Accelerated Curing and Enhanced Material Properties of Conductive Polymer Nanocomposites by Joule Heating

Joule heating is useful for fast and reliable manufacturing of conductive composite materials. In this study, we investigated the influence of Joule heating on curing conditions and material properties of polymer-based conductive composite materials consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We applied different voltages to the CNT nanocomposites to investigate their electrical stabilization, curing temperature, and curing time. The result showed that highly conductive CNT/PDMS composites were successfully cured by Joule heating with uniform and fast heat distribution. For a 7.0 wt % CNT/PDMS composite, a high curing temperature of around 100 °C was achieved at 20 V with rapid temperature increase. The conductive nanocomposite cured by Joule heating also revealed an enhancement in mechanical properties without changing the electrical conductivities. Therefore, CNT/PDMS composites cured by Joule heating are useful for expediting the manufacturing process for particulate conductive composites in the field of flexible and large-area sensors and electronics, where fast and uniform curing is critical to their performance.