Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-fvjsw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-13T10:53:26.504Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Smart Polymer Composite Thermistor

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Ralf Strümpler and
Joachim Glatz-Reichenbach
Ralf Strümpler
Affiliation:
ABB Corporate Research, CH-5405 Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland, ralf.struempler@ch.abb.com
Joachim Glatz-Reichenbach
Affiliation:
ABB Corporate Research, CH-5405 Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland, ralf.struempler@ch.abb.com
Get access

Abstract

An industrially important class of passively smart materials is electrically nonlinear polymer composites. The transition of conducting composites from low to high resistivity can be utilized for current limitation. Due to Joule losses the material is heated by a fault or short-circuit current. With increasing temperature the polymer matrix expands and the current paths over the conducting filler particles are interrupted. Within milliseconds, the material responds to the fault current by an increase in resistivity up to eight orders of magnitude. Due to the strong nonlinear resistivity - temperature relation, a narrow hot-zone is formed even for long samples. The length of the hot-zone limits the maximum switching voltage. By adding a second filler material of varistor- type, however, the maximum voltage can be considerably increased. When a hot spot is formed in one of the current paths over the conducting particles, a small voltage increase allows already a commutation of the current to neighboring varistor particles. Consequently, the current can still flow to a certain degree and allows to heat also the rest of the material around its path. This leads finally to a very broad hot area, which can resist much higher voltages. By the development of a smart material with two strong non-linearities, a dramatic improvement has been achieved for the application of thermistor composites in current limitation.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 600: Symposium FF – Electroactive Polymers , 1999, 293
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

1 Newnham, R. E., and Ruschau, G.R., J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 74, pp. 436–480 (1991)Google Scholar
2 Newnham, R. E., Ruschau, G.R:, J. Intelligent Mater. Syst. and Struct. 4, pp. 289–294 (1993)Google Scholar
3 Strümpler, R., Kluge-Weiss, P., Greuter, F., in Advances in Science and Technology, edited by Vincenzi, P. (Techna S.r.I., Faenza-Ra, Italy, 1995) vol 10, pp. 15–22 Google Scholar
4 Strüimpler, R., Rhyner, J., Greuter, F., Kluge-Weiss, P., J. of Smart Mater. & Struct. 4, pp. 215–222 (1995)Google Scholar
5 Bueche, F., J. Appl. Phys. 44, pp. 532 (1973)Google Scholar
6 Strtümpler, R., Maidom, G., Rhyner, J., J. Appl. Phys. 81, pp. 6786–94 (1997)Google Scholar
7 Strtümpler, R., Glatz-Reichenbach, J., and Greuter, F., Mater. Soc. Symp. Proc. 411, pp. 393–398 (1996)Google Scholar
8 Heaney, M. B., Appl. Phys. Lett., 69, pp. 2602–2604 (1996)Google Scholar
9 Glatz-Reichenbach, J., Skindhøj, J., Striimpler, R., Proc. of 11th Int. Conf. on Comp. Mater., Gold Coast, Australia, July 14–18, 1997, ed.: Scott, M. L., Woodhead Publ., vol. 5, (1997) pp. 749–758 Google Scholar
10 Doljack, F. A., IEEE Trans. on Comp., Hybrids and Manufact. Techn. CHMT-4, p.372 (1981)Google Scholar
11 Fang, T., Morris, St, Elektron , January 97, pp. 103–104 (1997)Google Scholar
12 Stoessl, M., Power Control in Motion, June 93, pp. 50–55 (1993)Google Scholar
13 Kobayashi, T., Endo, H., NEC Research and Development 86, pp. 81–90 (1987)Google Scholar
14 Skindhøj, J., Glatz-Reichenbach, J., Strümpler, R., IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery 13, No.2, pp. 489–494 (1998)Google Scholar
15 Strtümpler, R., Skindhøj, J., Glatz-Reichenbach, J., Kuhlefelt, J. H. W., Perdoncin, F., IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery 14, No. 2, pp. 425–436. (1999)Google Scholar
16 Strümpler, R., Glatz-Reichenbach, J., J. Electroceramics 3, No. 3, pp. 329–46 (1999)Google Scholar
17 Glatz-Reichenbach, J., Meyer, B., Strtümpler, R., Kluge-Weiss, P., and Greuter, F., J. Mater. Sci. 31, pp. 5941–5944 (1996)Google Scholar