Preparation of conductive polyaniline/epoxy composite

Abstract Conductive PANI (polyaniline)/epoxy composites were prepared by curing of the premix of PANI, which was synthesized in a multiple sulfonic acid system containing toluenesulfonic acid and dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid, and epoxy resin with methyl tetrahydrogen phenyl anhydride/triethylamine. The effects of the loadings of the curing agent, the accelerants as well as their types, and the PANI on the conductivities of the composites were studied. With increasing loadings of curing agent, conductivities of the composites increased first and decreased then, which is a synergistic effect of the PANI loading and its doping states. Under relatively lower loading of accelerant, conductivities of the composites increased with increase of PANI loading, whereas with higher loading of accelerant, the conductivities were affected by both the PANI and the accelerant loadings. Conductivity as high as 3 × 10 ⁻⁵ S/cm was achieved for curing of the composite containing 7.5 wt% of PANI and 4 wt% of accelerant at 80°C, which is suffice in application of electrostatic discharging. POLYM. COMPOS. 27:201–204, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers