Effect of ozone treatment of carbon nanotube on PTC/NTC behaviors of high-density polyethylene matrix composites

In this paper, the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were ozonized and the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) behaviors of CNTs-filled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conductive composites were studied. The results of element analysis (EA) and FT-IR indicate that the oxygen-containing functional groups on the CNTs surfaces, such as O-H, C-O, and C = O groups, were increased with the ozonization. Electrical resistivities of the CNTs/HDPE composites were measured by using a digital multimeter. The resistivity of the composites was increased abruptly near the crystalline melting temperature of the HDPE used as matrix, which could be attributed to the destruction of conductive network by the thermal expansion of HDPE. And, the PTC intensity of the CNTs/HDPE composites was increased with the increase of the ozone treatment time. It was probably due to the growing of maximum volume resistivity of the composites induced by the increased oxygen-containing functional groups in the CNTs surfaces.