Assessment of mechanical performance, thermal stability and water resistance of novel conductive poly(lactic acid)/modified natural rubber blends with low loading of polyaniline

Abstract

Biodegradable conductive poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/liquid natural rubber (LNR)/polyaniline (PANI) blends with low loading of PANI were prepared via a melt‐blending technique assisted by ultrasonic treatment which possessed enhanced electrical conductivity and mechanical, thermal and physical properties.

Mechanical, thermal, and conductivity performances of novel thermoplastic natural rubber/graphene nanoplates/polyaniline composites

“…For instance, with 10 and 20 wt % of PANI, the electrical conductivity was found to be 3.31 E‐9 S/cm and 1.07 E‐8 S/cm, respectively. This range of conductivity values (with a power of −9 and −8) falls into the semiconductor range, as similarly reported in the previous research work on polylactic acid/LNR with less than 0.11 wt % of PANI . For 30 and 40 wt % of PANI, the electrical conductivity was observed to be 6.79 E‐6 S/cm and 5.22 E‐5 S/cm, respectively.…”

“…Compared to the TPNR and TPNR/GNPs nanocomposite sample, Figure (c) shows that the inclusion of PANI particles has led the modifications in the morphological structure as PANI particles coated on the surfaces of TPNR, as indicated by the black arrows. This observation can be explained where the polar group of PANI (with NH functional group) promotes good adhesion and bonding (hydrogen bonds) with polar polymer matrix (with OH and COOH functional groups in LNR) . At the PANI content of 20 wt % (NC3), the distribution of the PANI and GNPs in TPNR is still homogenous with regular roughness as well as having a good matrix‐filler interaction [refer to Figure (d)] which led to the effective strengthening of GNPs filler and PANI in the TPNR as confirmed by the improvement in the thermal stability as described earlier.…”

“…Another possible reason for thermal conductivity enhancement could be due to the much faster phonon conduction from a much larger thermal channel of connected GNPs inside the matrix. The GNPs are expected to promote better interface and reduce the interfacial thermal resistance with TPNR and PANI by owing to the large contact area and better extended dimensionality of their 2D structure …”

“…As expected, the overall increase in electrical conductivity with the conductive filler/polymers (GNPs and PANI) loadings was significant. The neat TPNR displayed a low electrical conductivity 3.00 E‐14 S/cm, in which the value at a power scale of 10 −11 is grouped as insulating material . With the addition of GNPs without the presence of PANI, an electrical conductor increases the electrical conductivity to 3.17 E‐9 S/cm.…”

High‐performance bio‐based poly(lactic acid)/natural rubber/epoxidized natural rubber blends: effect of epoxidized natural rubber on microstructure, toughness and static and dynamic mechanical properties

“…In recent years, due to environmental problems and improper disposal of petrochemical-based synthetic plastics, plant-derived biodegradable thermoplastics have received great attention in food/beverage packaging, tissue engineering, medical and pharmaceutical fields. [1][2][3][4][5] Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most extensively studied biodegradable polymers, which is derived from natural and renewable resources like sweet corn, sugar beets and potato. 6 PLA presents good mechanical properties such as high strength, high modulus and excellent transparency.…”