Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol.80, No.9, 1571-1574, 2001
PTC effect in carbon black-filled ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer systems
The positive temperature coefficient (PTC) effects of carbon black (CB)-filled semicrystalline and amorphous ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer (EPDM) composites were studied. The semicrystalline EPDM/CB composite exhibited a low PTC effect followed by a pronounced negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effect, while the amorphous EPDM/CB composite exhibited only an NTC effect. By the effect of gamma -ray irradiation, not only was the NTC effect of the composites eliminated, but also a high PTC effect appeared. The PTC intensity reached as high as six orders of magnitude even for an amorphous EPDM/CB composite and the PTC transition temperature decreased with the irradiation dose.