VRH investigation of polyaniline-multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposite network

Polyaniline and polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotube (PAni/MWCNT) nanocomposites were synthesized by in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. Ammonium peroxydisulphate and p-toluenesulphonic acid were used as an initiator and surfactant dopant, respectively. The molar ratio of monomer unit to initiator and dopant was 1:1:1 and the percentage of MWCNT in PAni varied from 1 to 10 wt%. The structure of the resulting nanocomposite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The effects of MWCNT concentration on the electrical properties of the resulting nanocomposites were studied at temperatures between 90 and 300 K. Conductivity increases with the combination of MWCNT in the PAni environment. The strong coupling between the MWCNT and the PAni chains enhances the average localization length and hence conductivity increases for the nanocomposites.