Novel Intrinsic Conducting Polymer Current Limiting Device (CLD) for Surge Protection

Authors: Noor H Jabarullah

Abstract:

In the past many uneconomic solutions for limitation and interruption of short-circuit currents in low power applications have been introduced, especially polymer switch based on the positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PCTR) concept. However there are many limitations in the active material, which consists of conductive fillers. This paper presents a significantly improved and simplified approach that replaces the existing current limiters with faster switching elements. Its elegance lies in the remarkable simplicity and low-cost processes of producing the device using polyaniline (PANI) doped with methane-sulfonic acid (MSA). Samples characterized as lying in the metallic and critical regimes of metal insulator transition have been studied by means of electrical performance in the voltage range from 1V to 5 V under different environmental conditions. Moisture presence is shown to increase the resistivity and also improved its current limiting performance. Additionally, the device has also been studied for electrical resistivity in the temperature range 77 K-300 K. The temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity gives evidence for a transport mechanism based on variable range hopping in three dimensions.

Keywords: Conducting polymer, current limiter, intrinsic, moisture dependence, polyaniline, resettable, surge protection.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1087596

References:

[1] Steurer, M., et al., A novel hybrid current-limiting circuit breaker for medium voltage: principle and test results. Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, 2003. 18(2): p. 460-467.
[2] Friend, R., Materials science: Polymers show they're metal. Nature, 2006. 441(7089): p. 37-37.
[3] Geniès, E.M., et al., Polyaniline: A historical survey. Synthetic Metals, 1990. 36(2): p. 139-182.
[4] Heeger, A.J., Nobel Lecture: Semiconducting and metallic polymers: The fourth generation of polymeric materials. Reviews of Modern Physics, 2001. 73(3): p. 681.
[5] Duggal, A.R. and L.M. Levinson, High power switching behavior in electrically conductive polymer composite materials. Vol. 71. 1997: AIP. 1939-1941. 100 150 200 250 300 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 R () T (K)
[6] Lee, K., et al., Metallic transport in polyaniline. Nature, 2006. 441(7089): p. 65-68.
[7] Huang, W.-S., B.D. Humphrey, and A.G. MacDiarmid, Polyaniline, a novel conducting polymer. Morphology and chemistry of its oxidation and reduction in aqueous electrolytes. Journal of the Chemical Society, Faraday Transactions 1: Physical Chemistry in Condensed Phases, 1986. 82(8): p. 2385-2400.
[8] Kulkarni, V.G., L.D. Campbell, and W.R. Mathew, Thermal stability of polyaniline. Synthetic Metals, 1989. 30(3): p. 321-325.G. R. Faulhaber, “Design of service systems with priority reservation,” in Conf. Rec. 1995 IEEE Int. Conf. Communications, pp. 3–8.
[9] Javadi, H.H.S., et al., Conduction mechanism of polyaniline: Effect of moisture. Synthetic Metals, 1988. 26(1): p. 1-8.
[10] Inzelt, G., Applications of Conducting Polymers, in Conducting Polymers. 2008, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 225-263-263.
[11] Janata, J. and M. Josowicz, Conducting polymers in electronic chemical sensors. Nat Mater, 2003. 2(1): p. 19-24.
[12] Kahol, P.K., A.J. Dyakonov, and B.J. McCormick, An electron-spinresonance study of polymer interactions with moisture in polyaniline and its derivatives. Synthetic Metals, 1997. 89(1): p. 17-28.
[13] Nechtschein, M., et al., Water effects in polyaniline: NMR and transport properties. Synthetic Metals, 1987. 18(1-3): p. 311-316.
[14] Nechtschein, M., et al., Water effects in polyaniline: NMR and transport properties. Synthetic Metals, 1987. 18(1-3): p. 311-316.
[15] Strumpler, R., G. Maidorn, and J. Rhyner, Fast current limitation by conducting polymer composites. Journal of Applied Physics, 1997. 81(10): p. 6786-6794.
[16] Skotheim, T.A., R.L. Elsenbaumer, and J.R. Reynolds, Handbook of Conducting Polymers. 1998: M. Dekker.
[17] Sheng, P., B. Abeles, and Y. Arie, Hopping Conductivity in Granular Metals. Physical Review Letters, 1973. 31(1): p. 44-47.
[18] Mott, N.F. and G.B. Physicist, Metal-insulator transitions. 1990: Taylor & Francis London.
[19] Sheng, P., Fluctuation-induced tunneling conduction in disordered materials. Physical Review B, 1980. 21(6): p. 2180-2195.
[20] Lux, F., Properties of electronically conductive polyaniline: a comparison between well-known literature data and some recent experimental findings. Polymer, 1994. 35(14): p. 2915-2936.