Analysis of correlation between percolation concentration and elongation at break in filled electroconductive epoxy-based adhesives

Electrical conductivity and elongation at break of epoxy filled with electroconductive carbon black, graphite or with silver-coated basalt particles or fibres were investigated in this paper. Percolation concentrations were determined to be 14 vol% for epoxy/carbon black composites, 22 vol% for epoxy/graphite composites, 28-29 vol% for both epoxy/silver-coated basalt particles and fibres. The steepest increase in electrical conductivity and the most pronounced decrease in elongation at break occurs at similar filler concentration range for all investigated systems. A good correlation between phenomenological model, introduced in [J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 18 (1998) 1457] and experimental data for all investigated systems was observed.