Description
AQUEOUS CONDUCTIVE POLYMER COMPOSITION WITH PTC OF RESISTIVITY AND PREPARATION THEREOF
Technical Field
[1] The present invention relates to an aqueous conductive polymer composition with positive temperature coefficients (PTC) of resistivity, and more particularly, to an aqueous conductive polymer composition used for preparation of a plane heater and having PTC characteristics (self-temperature control characteristics) where it is heated only to an initial heating temperature of 60-70 0C and no longer heated, as well as a preparation method thereof.
Background Art
[2] A plane heater is a novel material which is formed by uniformly applying fine ceramic particles and conductive carbon particles on a fibrous fabric and generates heat upon the application of electricity. The plane heater is widely used as not only a heating material for general homes or offices but also a material for road snow removal, agricultural heating, car sheets, various mattresses and heating clothes. In order to prepare this plane heater, a conductive polymer is generally used. Prior to the present invention, the present inventors developed a conductive polymer paste with PTC characteristics and a method of coating the same (US patent Nos. 5,556,576 and 5,728,322). In this regard, PTC is an abbreviated word of positive temperature co¬ efficients of resistivity, which indicates that resistance is increased with an increase in temperature. The term PTC characteristics refer to self-temperature control charac¬ teristics.
[3] The conductive polymer paste disclosed in the above-mentioned US patents has various material advantages, including low electrical resistance, PTC flexibility, and easy moldability. Nevertheless this polymer paste contains no organic diluent having strong volatility, and thus, requires very limited conditions in its handling, transport and storage. Particularly, working environments for the preparation of the polymer paste and for the production of the plane heater are harmful to the health of workers, and the polymer paste is always exposed to the risk of fire, and thus, it is actually difficult to produce the polymer paste and the plane heater in large quantities. Disclosure of Invention
Technical Solution
[4] Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an aqueous conductive polymer composition which is based on an aqueous
polymer, so that its handling, transport and storage are easy, processes for preparing the polymer and for producing the composition are very safe, and the composition has a very low fire risk which makes the mass production of the composition possible, as well as a preparation method thereof.
[5] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.
[6] In one aspect, the present invention provides an aqueous conductive polymer composition with PTC of resistivity, comprising: 80-100 parts by weight of a water- soluble polymer; 80-100 parts by weight of alcohol paraffin wax; 20-40 parts by weight of carbon black powder with a particle size of 0.02-0.06 D; and 0.05-0.1 part by weight of a surfactant.
[7] In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for preparing an aqueous conductive polymer composition with PTC of resistivity, the method comprising the steps of: mixing 80-100 parts by weight of a water-soluble polymer with 80-100 parts by weight of alcohol paraffin wax; dissolving the mixture by heating at a temperature of 80-100 0C; adding 80-800 parts by weight of hot water to the mixture solution, and stirring and cooling the aqueous mixture; and sequentially adding 20-40 parts by weight of carbon black with a particle size of 0.02-0.06 D and 0.05-0.1 part by weight of a surfactant to the cooled mixture with stirring.
[8] The aqueous conductive polymer composition according to the present invention comprises: a water-soluble polymer which is a basic resin material acting as both a binder and an emulsifier; alcohol paraffin wax which is a monomolecular crystalline material for imparting PTC characteristics; carbon black powder for imparting con¬ ductivity to the polymer; and a surfactant for finely dispersing these components in an aqueous solvent.
[9] Examples of the water-soluble polymer which can be used as the basic resin material in the present invention include polyethylene glycol, polyethylene oxide and a mixture thereof. This water-soluble polymer, after cured, functions to provide mechanical strength. Namely, after cured by heating, the polymer has sufficient intrinsic resistance to heat and oxygen and particularly, stably maintains its physical a nd mechanical strengths against repeated heating and cooling. In the composition of the present invention, the content of the water-soluble polymer is 80-100 parts by weight. If the content of the water-soluble polymer is less than 80 parts by weight, the mechanical strength of the cured polymer will become weak, and if it is more than 100 parts by weight, the characteristics of the other components will be adversely affected.
[10] A material used to impart PTC characteristics to the composition is a monomolecular crystalline compound having the maximum volume at its melting point, and preferably alcohol paraffin wax. Paraffin having no impurity has higher resistance in the cured polymer. The content of paraffin wax in the inventive
composition is 80-100 parts by weight which is the same as the content of the water- soluble polymer. If the content of the paraffin wax is less than 80 parts by weight, the desired PTC characteristics cannot be obtained, and if it is more than 100 parts by weight, it will be difficult to expect an increase in effects caused by an increase in the content. The material for imparting PTC characteristics must have good compatibility with the basic resin material, and if the kind of the basic resin material varies, the kind of the material for imparting PTC characteristics should also vary in order to realize the physical and mechanical properties of the basic resin material.
[11] Carbon black powder used to impart conductivity to the polymer preferably has a particle size of 0.02-0.06 D and a content of 20-40 parts by weight. If the content of the conductive carbon black in the inventive composition is less than 20 parts by weight, the conductivity of the polymer will become poor, so that the desired heating effect cannot be achieved, and if the content is more than 40 parts by weight, the content of the other components will be relatively reduced so that the overall physical properties of the composition will be adversely affected.
[12] In addition, as a surfactant, a nonionic dispersing and leveling agent is used. The surfactant functions to finely disperse the above-described components in an aqueous solvent, and its content is preferably 0.05-0.1 part by weight.
[13] The conductive polymer composition according to the present invention is prepared in the following manner.
[14] First, 80-100 parts by weight of the water-soluble polymer is sufficiently mixed with 80-100 parts by weight of the alcohol paraffin wax, and the mixture is dissolved by heating at a temperature of 80-100 0C. Then, 80-800 parts by weight of hot water is added to the mixture and cooled to room temperature with sufficient stirring. Then, 20-400 parts by weight of carbon black powder with a particle size of 0.02-0.06 D is added to the cooled mixture and stirred until a smooth paste is formed. To the paste, 0.05-0.1 part by weight of the surfactant is added and sufficiently stirred until the carbon black powder is substantially uniformly dispersed.
[15] The conductive polymer composition thus prepared is used to prepare a plane heater according to the present invention. For this purpose, the conductive polymer composition is prepared in the form of an impregnable paste, and the paste is im¬ pregnated into a fibrous substrate, thus preparing a plane heater. The surface of the prepared plane heater may also be treated with styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex as a moisture-proofing agent. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
[16] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in further detail by examples. It is to be understood, however, that the scope of the present invention is not limited to or
by the examples.
[17] Example 1
[18] 95 parts by weight of polyethylene glycol and 95 parts by weight of paraffin wax are mixed with each other and dissolved in a stirring vessel by heating to about 90 0C. Then, 200 parts by weight of hot water is added to the solution, and the mixture is stirred until solids are finely dispersed. Then, the stirred mixture is cooled to room temperature. Then, 30 parts by weight of carbon black powder with a particle size of 0.02-0.06 D is added to the cooled mixture and stirred at about 1,500 rpm for about 3 hours. Then, 0.08 parts by weight of a surfactant (Disperol UDL-200 manufactured by Shinyoung Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd.) is added to the stirred mixture, and the resulting mixture is passed through three rolling mills, thus obtaining an aqueous conductive polymer composition.
[19] Example 2
[20] An aqueous conductive polymer composition is prepared in the same manner as in
Example 1 except that polyethylene oxide in place of polyethylene glycol is used as the water-soluble polymer.
[21] Example 3
[22] An aqueous conductive polymer composition is prepared in the same manner as in
Example 1 except that a 1 : 1 (w/w) mixture of polyethylene oxide and polyethylene glycol is used as the water-soluble polymer.
[23] A paste of the aqueous conductive compositions prepared in each of Examples 1-3 is impregnated into a fibrous fabric. The resulting fabric is dried at 130 0C and cured to prepare a plane heater. The surface of the prepared plane heater is applied with latex as a moisture-proofing agent. The plane heater thus prepared was measured for R /R (R : p r p peak resistance, and R r : resistance at room temperature), and as a result, the R p /R r was about 10 and had no significant difference between Examples 1-3. Industrial Applicability
[24] As described above, the aqueous conductive polymer composition according to the present invention contains no volatile organic diluent. Thus, a working process for preparing the composition is safe and the composition is not exposed to the risk of fire so that it can be produced in large amounts. Also, the aqueous conductive polymer composition is very excellent in thermal stability since it has PTC characteristics where it is heated to an initial heating temperature of 60-70 0C and no longer heated. In addition, the composition allows the mass production of dyeable plane heaters.