Comparative study of electrically conductive polymer composites of polyester‐based thermoplastic polyurethane matrix with polypyrrole and montmorillonite/polypyrrole additive

Abstract Electrically conductive polymer composites were produced by melt mixing technique using polyester‐based thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) as matrix and polypyrrole (PPy) or montmorillonite/polypyrrole (MMT/PPy) fillers doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid. Composites with different mass concentrations of conductive additives were obtained and characterized, comparing the electrical properties, structure, and morphology of the composites in order to evaluate the effect of conductive filler content and type. The results showed that TPU/MMT/PPy composites have lower percolation threshold and higher electrical conductivity than TPU/PPy. This behavior was attributed to the higher aspect ratio, better dispersion, and greater interaction between nanostructured MMT/PPy and TPU host insulating when compared with neat PPy. In addition, TPU/MMT/PPy composites produced using polyester‐based TPU tend to have better electrical properties than polyether‐based TPU composites due to its higher polarity, increasing the electrical conductivity and reducing the percolation threshold.