Synergistic KCl-NaCl molten salt synthesis of ATO/potassium titanate whiskers composites for light-colored deformation-sensitive conductive fibers
摘要
Light-colored conductive fillers are desirable for conductive fiber materials, but it remains difficult to obtain a good balance between electrical conductivity and appearance. In this work, potassium titanate whiskers were prepared by a molten salt method, and the effects of salt composition and reactant ratio on phase evolution and whisker morphology were investigated. Under the investigated conditions, a mixed-salt system with a KCl:NaCl molar ratio of 1:1, a TiO2/K2CO3 molar ratio of 3:1, and a total chloride salts/TiO2 mass ratio of 3:1 was more favorable for obtaining whisker-like products with greater length and a comparatively moderate diameter. The as-prepared potassium titanate whiskers were then used as substrates for the deposition of antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO) by a co-precipitation process. Under the optimized coating condition of 40 wt% ATO and 7.5% Sb doping, the resulting ATO/potassium titanate composite whiskers showed a resistivity of 3.1 ± 0.27 kΩ·cm and a whiteness of 72.7 ± 0.3 Wb. The composite whiskers were further introduced into thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) by wet spinning to prepare conductive fibers. The resulting fibers exhibited relatively low volume resistivity together with deformation-sensitive electrical response and stable cyclic behavior. These results demonstrate that potassium titanate whiskers can serve as suitable light-colored substrates for the preparation of conductive whiskers and deformation-sensitive conductive fibers.