Electrically conducting polyaniline microtube blends

Self-assembled polyaniline micro/nanotubes were synthesized by a template-free method. Changing the molar doping level ratio [Aniline]: [dopant] from 0.25 to 2 increased the polyaniline tube (PAT) diameter by three orders of magnitude. Bulk conductivity of the tubes was demonstrated for both micro- and nanotubes and varied from 0.01 to 1.2 S/cm. When microtubes were solution-blended with polyurethane, a highly dispersed fractal network of tubes was observed, and the resulting blend conductivity was 1 x 10(-5) S/cm and 1 x 10(-3) S/cm for 0.5% (wt/wt) and 2% (wt/wt) PANI microtube loadings, respectively. These values were sufficient for the minimal value needed (1 x 10(-6) S/cm) for charge mitigation. The promising results of this program lend themselves to developing an all-polymer microtube-conducting composite that has sufficient conductivity and transparency to mitigate electrical charge in lightweight space structures. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.