Research progress in positive temperature coefficient effect of conductive polymer composites

Abstract

Conductive polymer composites （CPCs） with positive temperature coefficient （PTC） have a wide range of applications in the field of smart heating due to the combination of good electrical conductivity of inorganic fillers and excellent processing properties of polymers. Among them， the percolation threshold， Curie temperature， PTC strength and PTC reproducibility are important parameters for the realization of the PTC effect. Therefore， based on the conductive mechanisms of CPCs and the generation mechanisms of PTC effect， this paper systematically reviews the regulation mechanisms of PTC effect from the perspective of both polymer matrix and filler， and proposes feasible strategies for lowering the percolation threshold， regulating the Curie temperature， improving the PTC strength， and enhancing the reproducibility of PTC， which provides guidance for the design and development of polymer matrix composites with PTC.