Melt-Processed Electrically Conductive Polymer/Polyaniline Blends

In the present study, conductive polyaniline-p-toluene sulfonic acid (PANI-pTSA) blends with thermoplastic polymers were prepared by melt processing. The blends' characterization focused on their morphology in light of the components' interaction and the resulting electrical conductivity. The PANI-pTSA blends were compared with blends containing PANI-DBSA (dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid). Generally, the level of interaction between the doped polyaniline and the matrix polymer determines the blend morphology and the resulting electrical conductivity. Similar solubility parameters of the matrix polymer and doped PANI lead to high levels of PANI dispersion within the matrix and to formation of conducting paths at low PANI contents. The morphology of a conducting network is described by a primary structure of small dispersed PANI particles interconnected by a secondary, short-range, fine fibrillar structure. The doped PANI network locates within the amorphous regions of a semicrystalline matrix, leading to reduction of the percolation concentration.