Effects of dopant, coagulant, and reinforcing nanofiller on mechanical and electrical properties of wet-spun polyaniline nanocomposite fibers

Abstract

This paper describes the application of Taguchi experimental design to study the simultaneous effects of the dopant, the coagulant, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) used as reinforcing filler on the properties (tensile strength and electrical conductivity) of polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite fibers produced via a wet spinning process. The MWCNT content was found to be the most significant factor, accounting for 72.8 % of the total contribution of the three selected parameters to the tensile strength. The dopant contributed 17.6 %, while the coagulant had a negligible effect and was therefore pooled. MWCNT content provided the maximum contribution of 98 % to the electrical conductivity, whereas the dopant and the coagulant had negligible effects, with contributions of 0.021 % and 0.247 %, respectively. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) and a tapping-mode atomic force microscope (AFM) were employed to study the morphology of the fibers. The electrochemical and pseudocapacitive properties of the fibers were investigated using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The PANI-AMPSA-MWCNT presented a specific capacitance value of 12.8 F cm−2. The thermal characteristics of the nanocomposite fibers were studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Elemental analysis of the fibers showed a high degree of doping: about 47–55 %.