The Synthesis of Polyaniline in Polyethylene Films with Grafted Sulfonated Polystyrene and Properties of These Films

Abstract

The results of the creation of an electrically conductive layer of polyaniline (PANI) on the surface of a polyethylene (PE) film modified by postradiation chemical grafting polymerization of styrene followed by the sulfonation of the grafted polystyrene (PS) chains are presented in this work. The distribution of sulfonated PS through the thickness of the PE film when varying both the degree of grafting of PS and degree of sulfonation of the latter is studied. It is shown that two types of films can be obtained using the specified procedure, namely, surface and bulk sulfonated. The synthesis of PANI in the obtained films was conducted by the oxidative polymerization of aniline. It is shown that the synthesis of PANI in most composite films has an autocatalytic character similar to the synthesis in the medium of polymeric acids. The studies of these PANI-containing films by FTIR spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy and measurements of their surface conductivity show that only the layers formed on the bulk sulfonated films to the full extent possess the properties inherent to PANI. The minimum of the achieved values of sheet resistance (17 MΩ/sq) gives evidence of the possibilities of this method for the formation of film materials containing PANI in the surface layers.