Electrical behavior of dual‐morphology polyaniline

Abstract

ABSTRACTAn attempt was taken to synthesize two types of polyaniline (PANI) with and without solvent followed by drying in air and vacuum oven conditions resulting different morphologies. The PANIs were prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization and studied with respect to their morphological features. Scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy techniques were used for the characterization studies. The PANI synthesized with a solvent had a mixed morphology (fibrillar and granular), whereas PANI synthesized without a solvent had only a granular morphology. The direct‐current electrical conductivities of the samples were evaluated with an electrometer. We observed that the PANIs with mixed morphology (with solvent) were more electrically conducting than those with a single morphology (without solvent). On drying in vacuo, the conductivity of PANI decreased from 3.3 × 10−2 to 0.3 × 10−2 S/cm with solvent treatment, whereas it decreased from 0.1 × 10−2 to 0.3 × 10−3 S/cm without solvent treatment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 44091.