Effects of network, tunneling, and interphase properties on the operative tunneling resistance in polymer carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanocomposites

Abstract Jang‐Yin and Deng‐Zheng equations for electrical conductivity of polymer carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanocomposites (PCNT) are developed assuming the roles of networked CNTs, interphase, and tunneling regions. The developed models are coupled to formulate the operative resistance of a unit cell (R_eff) induced by networked CNTs and tunneling region. The suggested equation is applied to calculate the operative resistance at dissimilar ranges of all parameters. In addition, the experimental measurements of conductivity for some samples are used to examine the predictability of the models. The models correctly predict the conductivity for various samples. Moreover, the parametric analyses demonstrate the sensible impacts of all parameters on the operative resistance justifying the suggested equation. A petite tunneling distance, wide tunnel, and poor polymer tunneling resistivity meaningfully deteriorate the operative resistance.