Preparation and characterisation of novel conducting lyosol

A new conducting lyosol with dual conducting fillers was studied. All steps of the processes along with characteristics and mechanisms of the conducting fillers preparation were discussed and investigated systematically. The conducting fillers, silver coated glass microsphere and silver coated graphite powder, were fabricated by electroless plating method. The surface topography and conductivity of the two kinds of conducting fillers were carefully investigated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) results revealed that the coating presented excellent surface topography. When silver content were 25% and 15% respectively, both fillers acquired the best plating quality. Meanwhile, the volume resistivities of two fillers were almost the same. However, neither the lyosol prepared by silver coated glass microsphere nor silver coated graphite powder showed good long term storage stability. By coupling two conducting fillers and thixotropic agents, a new lyosol exhibited better electrical conductivity, superior temperature resistance and excellent long term storage stability.