High Power Switching Behavior in Conductor-Filled Polymer Composites

ABSTRACTIt has generally been assumed that the switching properties of conductor-filled polymer composites are based on a positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTCR) effect where, at a certain switch temperature, the material resistivity increases by orders of magnitude. Here we present studies of the electrical switching behavior at high current densities which demonstrate that, in the high power regime, the observed switching is not based on the PTCR effect. Instead, we show that this type of switching appears to be a general feature in conductor-filled polymer composite materials and a qualitative model for the switching phenomenon is proposed. These results suggest that conductor-filled polymer composite materials can provide a new non-mechanical way of rapidly limiting high power short circuit currents. This should have broad applications in the circuit protection industry.