Highly improved conductivity of polyaniline–carbon nanotubes Composites doped by liquid bromine with a synergistic effect

In order to obtain highly conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs)–polymer composite materials, we prepared polyaniline wrapped carbon nanotubes composites (CNTs‐PANI) by in situ polymerization, and used three different treated methods to fabricate bromine‐doped compounds. Only with the method of liquid bromine processing could we highly improve the conductivity of composites. When treating by liquid bromine, the conductivity of 10%CNTs‐PANI significantly improved nearly 3 × 10⁶ times, which was already near that of pure CNTs we used. Compared with pure PANI doped by bromine, we found that there was a synergistic effect in CNTs‐PANI composites between bromine and CNTs. Based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and heat treatment experiment, we proposed that the interaction between bromine and CNTs‐PANI had both the doped effect as a promoter and the destructive effect on the electrical conductivity. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E1034–E1040, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers