Abstract
Bacterial cellulose/polyaniline (BC/PANi) blends present a great potential for several applications. The current study evaluates the impact of using different BC matrixes (drained, freeze-dried and regenerated) and different synthesis conditions (in situ and ex situ) to improve the inherent properties of BC, which were monitored through FTIR-ATR, EDX, XRD, SEM, AFM, swelling, contact angle measurement and IGC. The employment of in situ polymerization onto drained BC presented the most conductive membrane (1.4 × 10−1 S/cm). The crystallinity, swelling capacity, surface energy and acid/base behavior of the BC membranes is substantially modified upon PANi incorporation, being dependent on the BC matrix used, being the freeze-dried BC blends the ones with highest crystallinity (up to 54%), swelling capacity (up to 414%) and surface energy (up to 75.0 mJ/m2). Hence, this work evidenced that the final properties of the BC/PANi blends are greatly influenced by both the BC matrixes and synthesis methods employed.
Highlights
Conductive polymers (ICP) are a special type of polymers that are characterized by a conjugated π-electron backbone which confers the unusual property to conduct electricity (Catedral, Tapia, & Sarmago, 2004)
Different Bacterial cellulose (BC) matrixes were used for the synthesis of the Bacterial cellulose/polyaniline (BC/PANi) membranes, which comprised in the use of drained, freeze-dried and regenerated BC
The second set of BC/PANi blends obtained comprised in the use of a BC membrane but this time aniline and APS were added at the same time
Summary
Conductive polymers (ICP) are a special type of polymers that are characterized by a conjugated π-electron backbone which confers the unusual property to conduct electricity (Catedral, Tapia, & Sarmago, 2004). Among the different ICP, polyaniline (PANi) is well known for its environmental stability as well as ease of synthesis. This way, it presents a great potential to be applied as thin film transistors, supercapacitors, engineering scaffolds, implantable biosensors and implantable neural prosthetic devices (Kaur, Adhikari, Cass, Bown, & Gunatillake, 2015; Sapurina & Shishov, 2012). The application of this polymer is restricted due to its poor mechanical properties. This way, in the recent years, considerable work has been done regarding ways to improve the processing properties of PANi through the production of blends with natural polymers. Amongst the different matrixes used on PANi synthesis, natural fibers such as bacterial cellulose presented to be promising since the current environmental issues shows a pressing need for sustainable, degradable and recyclable materials while performing at the same level as non-degradable materials
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