DC electrical conductivity retention and thermo-optical studies of camphor sulfonic acid doped cetyl tri methyl ammonium bromide-assisted graphene/polyaniline composite nanofibers

Abstract

This paper reports the synthesis of camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) doped PANI/GN composite nanofibers by the in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of cationic surfactant cetyl tri methyl ammonium bromide (CTAB). The as-synthesized composite nanofibers were examined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV–vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The CSA-doped PANI/GN composite nanofibers showed higher DC electrical conductivity than PANI, which was attributed to the enhanced mobility of the charge carriers after the incorporation of GN into the PANI/GN composite nanofibers. The PANI/GN composite nanofibers also showed improved DC electrical conductivity retention at 413K, which might be due to the synergistic effects of GN and PANI in the composite structure.