Make Conductive Glue and Glue a Circuit

Step 7 Update

Thank you for your feedback in the comment section. This is an open source conductive glue so I tried some of your suggestions and the results are:

Lubricating Graphite
The lubricating graphite resulted in a resistance equal to the graphite from a chemical supply. However, it is quite a bit more expensive for the amount of glue you get. If you just want to see if it works or only need a small amount of glue, it works fine.

Wire Glue
Wire Glue works well. Even though it is the cheapest of the conductive glues and epoxies that I have seen, It is more expensive and has a higher resistance than this open source glue. It also is brittle and will crack if you bend it. You cannot as easily vary its resistance. But it works just fine if you only need small quantities. On the plus side, it has no fumes and sticks very well to glass. You can obtain it at:
http://www.goldmine-elec.com/

Metals Instead of Graphite
I have had mixed results in my experiments with powdered metals. While they often produce the lowest resistance per inch, they tend to make the resulting mix quite brittle. They also considerably increase the price of the glue mix. If you would like to see a list of the metals I have tried and the results along with the latest update on Conductive Glue Experiments, you can see them at: http://www.inklesspress.com/conductive_glue.htm

My original goal was to come up with a glue that was less expensive, had a lower resistance, and was more flexible than the nearest comparable commercial product. While there is room for improvement, this glue is as useful as most of the off the shelf conductive glues. As for me, I am quite happy to continue experimenting with the proven graphite formula which has low cost, high flexibility, variable resistance, and many possibilities.

Comments

[Mr. Reprobate]

mikey77 -
Very well done. I'm sure you've played down a little bit, the many hours you have invested in this (it must have been a huge job doing trial & error on all possible ingredients & various ratios). That alone, makes you a true "stand-up guy" for posting this as an "open source" formula. Also, I imagine those Liquid Tape guys would have some issues if you tried to patten a formula made of 50% of their product :-) I just wanted to add my thanks as this is something that many of us will use often.

Are you familiar with Sugru? Lots of info on this site. I wonder what you might be able to create by incorporating it into your graphite formula? Maybe a custom sized & shaped 3D switch, resistor, or volt reg / potentiometer disguised as some decorative part of a project? A more HD pressure sensor? I see a huge novelty market for fun car accessories such as the OEM-looking shift knob. You wire it so that it delivers a (safe but meaningful) "zzaaapp" every time your kid dives the family car like a race car? Electric side moulding for those inconsiderate people who lean against other people's cars as if they were beach chairs. Hmmm, I wonder if they'd even mix in a useful way. Hey great job and thanks for making it available to all.

[redkcir]

I was looking for a way to change the batteries in one of my cordless tools (a Black & Decker VPX system). They quit making the battery (a 7volt unit) and I found some rechargeable Lithium 3.2 volt at WallyWorld for $5 a four pack of 600mAH. I really didn't want to try soldering the leads to it, and this looks to be a much better way. Thanks for the Info.

[bobank]

I am not concern about making 0Ohm resistance. You can achieve it with soldering. But what you did is awesome, you made excellent base for designing pressure sensor that in connection with bargraf will show how high is the pressure. As you publish this, I assume you give the other rights to use it or to use it as starting point for more experiments. I am trying to make pressure sensor, but all those with tread are different value each. I need something that will be consistent in each unit on certain temperature. Thank you very much for good product an hard work Maximus

[ZBM]

is there any way to lower the consintsay say to that of liquid paint.....and still be able to dry after being applied?...i am sorry for my bad spelling

[mikey77]

As I have commented below, you can find details on how to make conductive paint and other conductive glues here:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Conductive-Glue-And-Conductive-Thread-Make-an-LED/

[OrionBlade]

One other thing to note is that carbon fiber is rather conductive - if you get some CF "roving" - just loose carbon fibers in a sort of nonwoven rope on a big spool - you can weave it into a fabric and then use your conductive glue to join the ends into a fabric circuit with little difficulty. perhaps a strain-gauge-controlled LED-studded jacket or scarf - hmm... temperature AND strain dependent brightness controls?

[GoatBoy]

Do you have any links to data on how conductive carbon fiber actually is?