Effect of Structural and Morphological Changes on the Conductivity of Stretched PANI-DBSA/HIPS Film

Abstract

We studied the effect of structural and morphological changes on the conductivity of a stretched conducting polymer film. To improve the poor processability of polyaniline, we used dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid as both a surfactant and a dopant during emulsion polymerization, followed by blending with high-impact polystyrene. UV-Vis/NIR spectra were obtained to observe conformational changes, and SEM and AFM were used to investigate morphological changes. FT-IR dichroism was applied to determine the microscopic orientation, and XRD patterns were obtained for quantitative crystallinity analysis. The electrical conductivity (<TEX>${\sigma}_{\parallel}/{\sigma}_{\perp}$</TEX>) was measured as a function of draw ratio. We found a clear correlation between morphological changes and (<TEX>${\sigma}_{\parallel}/{\sigma}_{\perp}$</TEX>), especially at the stretching limit. The conductivity of the films can be modified according to the desired application by controlling their structure and morphology.