Self-Assembly and Surface Tension Induced Fractal Conductive Network in Ternary Polymer System

In nanocomposites, the establishment of a conductive network dictates the electrical properties of materials. Herein, we explore the idea of forming a conductive network using self-assembly and surface tension to control the morphology of polymer blends. A conductive polymer such as polyaniline (PAni) was in situ polymerized in a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) solution. Polyurethane (PU) was used to tailor the morphology of the polymer blends. By controlling the composition of these three components, various phase separation morphologies were observed including sea–island and bicontinuous phase separation. Interestingly, the polyaniline consists of nanoparticles and/or colloids that takes a fractal configuration to form a conductive network. The stability of the polymer blend was controlled and its conductivity was measured as a function of phase dispersion and their mutual contents. The blend was applied onto nonwoven fabric and its conductivity was tested.