Enhancements in Conductivity and Thermal Stabilities of Polypyrrole/Polyurethane Nanoblends

The current work deals with enhancements in conductivity and thermal stabilities of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)/dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid doped polypyrrole (PPy.DBSA) nanoblends prepared by solution intercalation (SB) and in situ (IS) methods. It is observed that the electrical conductivity (sigma(dc)) of nanoblends is influenced by interaction between PPy.DBSA and TPU as well as homogeneous nanolevel dispersion and content of PPy.DBSA in TPU matrix. The maximum value of sigma(dc) has been found at 30 wt % PPy.DBSA for the SB (0.26 S cm(-1)) nanoblend due to the presence of the hexagonal network. The percolation threshold is attained at 2.5 wt % of PPy.DBSA for IS and SB nanoblends. The temperature variation of conductivity for different nanoblends follows one-dimensional variable range hopping (VRH) model. A significant improvement (32 degrees C) in thermal stability has been observed at 50% wt loss for SB nanoblend containing 30 wt % PPy.DBSA. The PL peak of the TPU nanoblend is red-shifted with increasing wt % of PPy.DBSA.