Composite films of nanostructured polyaniline with poly(vinyl alcohol)

The uniform composite films of nanostructured polyaniline (PANI) (e.g. nanotubes or nanorods with 60-80 nm in diameter) were successfully fabricated by blending with water-soluble poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as a matrix. The PANI nanostructures were synthesized by a template-free method in the presence of P-naphthalene sulfonic acid (beta-NSA) as a dopant. The molecular structures of PANI-beta-NSA and the related composite films were characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectrum, FTIR spectrum and X-ray diffraction. It was found that the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of the composite films were affected by the content of nanostructured PANI-beta-NSA in the PVA matrix. The composite film with 16% PANI-beta-NSA showed the following physical properties: room-temperature conductivity is in the range 10(-2) S/cm, tensile strength similar to603 kg/cm(2), tensile modulus similar to4.36 x 10(5) kg/cm(2) and ultimate elongation similar to80%. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.