AC Conductivity Studies on PMMA-PANI (HCl) Nanocomposite Fibers Produced by Electrospinning

Abstract

Electrospinning is one of the techniques to produce non-woven fiber mats using polymers. The diameters of the fiber produced by this technique are in the range of 10 m to 10 nm. Electrically conducting ultra fine fibers are useful in many applications in the fields of sensors, and nanoelectronics. However, it is very difficult to obtain fibers of conducting polymers like polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole through electrospinning. Hence they are invariably mixed with other insulating polymers such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) to obtain a conducting composite depending on the percolation of the conducting polymer. Here, we report the preparation of PANI-PMMA composite fibers by electrospinning. The scanning electron micrographs and the frequency dependent complex conductivity (()) of these polymer fibers are investigated at room temperature with different concentrations of PANI (5%, 10%, 15%, 20% w/w). It is observed that there is a significant enhancement in the ac conductivity of these fibers with the increase in the concentration of PANI.

Effect of Iodine Addition on Improving the Electrical Conductivity and Activation Energy of Electrospun PMMA Thin Films

“…While, both surface tension and electrical conductivity increase with increasing the iodine percentage, because the surface tension of water is equal to (72.80 mN/m) at 20ºC, and it's higher than that for dimethylformamide (DMF) which is equal to (37.10 mN/m) [26]. Similar observations are reported in literature [27,9,11,17]. Figures 3, 4, and 5 illustrated the relation between iodine additive percentages and viscosity, surface tension and electrical conductivity respectively.…”

“…Conductive polymers with wide range of electrical conductivity (10 -5 -10 3 S/cm) are characterized by good mechanical and optical properties beside the high electrical conductivity [9]. Therefore, they are considered as good substitute to inorganic and semiconductor materials used in electronic and optoelectronic applications [10,11]. The advantages of using conductive polymers as substitutes to inorganic materials are their light weight, process-ability, tailorability, flexibility and environmental stability [12].…”

“…Also the electrical conductivity of side-by-side PANI and PEO film was higher than that of PANI/PEO blends [23]. Poly methyl metha acrylate (PMMA) is a thermoplastic polymer material with amorphous structure; therefore, it is characterized with transparency and has important applications like: eye lenses, implants and esthetic articles [11]. This work aims to study the improvement in the electrical properties of PMMA solution after the addition of different ratios of iodine.…”

Conducting Polyaniline-Electrical Charge Transportation

“…It provides high conductivity and crystallinity values to the PANI-CSA complex system, conferring on the polymer a metallic like-behavior [13]. In the recent years, HCl and CSA doped PANI have been used in Poly (methylmethacrylate) PMMA composites to produce highly conductive electrospun nanofibers by our group previously [14][15][16], in which the investigation devoted to microwave hall mobility and electrical properties. These results may open novel fundamental and applied frontiers [17] in diverse fields.…”