Study on the impedance of aligned carbon microcoils embedded in silicone rubber matrix

This paper reports that carbon microcoils are grown through a chemical vapour deposit process, they are then embedded in silicone rubber, and manipulated to parallel with each other along their axes in the resulting composite. The impedance |Z| as well as phase angle \theta of both the original carbon microcoil sheets and the aligned carbon microcoil/silicone rubber composites are measured. The results illustrate that carbon microcoils in different forms show different alternating current electric properties. The aligned carbon microcoils in the composites show stable parameters for f<10⁴ Hz but a sharp decrease in both |Z| and \theta for frequencies >10⁴ Hz, which will also change as the carbon microcoils are extended. But, the original sheets have a pure resistance with their parameters stable throughout the entire alternating current frequency range investigated.