Organization of carbon black in laminates of cellulose and melamine‐formaldehyde

Abstract Thin composite laminates based on melamine‐formaldehyde (MF) and cellulose are made electrostatically dissipative or conductive by addition of carbon black (CB). CB in an ethanol dispersion was applied to MF sheets containing α‐cellulose. Areas around cellulose fibers are favored sites for CB and during subsequent hot‐pressing further redistribution took place, enriching the CB content adjacent to fibers. Thus, the mobility of CB during processing provides a spontaneously formed network with the cellulose fibers as the backbone. Longitudinal and transverse DC resistivity measurements had nearly the same percolation threshold and only slightly different resistivities indicating that an important conduction mechanism takes place through connection points between laminas. The elastic modulus is greatly increased already at very small loadings of CB. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:144–151, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers