Electrical properties and glass transition temperature of multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyaniline composites

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) was synthesized and doped with 0, 2, 4 and 16wt.% of pure and functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by “in-situ” polymerization. Measurement of temperature dependence of electrical resistivity showed a reduction in the resistivity of the composites at all temperatures. The reduction was increased by increasing the wt.% of MWCNTs. This decrease was more for the composites containing functionalized MWCNTs and was more prominent for temperatures below 150K. The glass transition temperature (Tg) of the pure and doped PANI was measured using electrical resistivity measurements. It was observed that by increasing the amount of functionalized MWCNTs in PANI, its Tg increases. Temperature dependence of resistivity of pressed pure PANI showed that by increasing the pelletization pressure, the bulk electrical resistivity decreased but the Tg increased.