Magnetic field dependent electro-conductivity of the graphite doped magnetorheological plastomers

Abstract

In this work we reported a novel graphite doped conductive magnetorheological plastomer (GMRP) with magnetic field dependent electro-conductivity. The conductivity of the GMRPs increased by increasing the content of the graphite particles, while it decreased with the graphite size. When the graphite content reached 15 wt%, the conductivity of GMRPs is approximately 10 000 times higher than the non-doped MRP. Because the iron particles in the GMRPs were magnetic, the conductivity of the GMRPs was magnetically sensitive. Upon applying a 780 mT magnetic field, the electric conductivity could increase about 1000 times larger than the one under zero magnetic field. A particle–particle resistance model was developed to investigate the influence of the magnetic field and graphite doping on the conductivity, and the fitting curve matched the experimental results very well. Finally, a magnetically controllable on–off switch based on GMRPs was proposed and its working mechanism was discussed.