Structural, mechanical and electrical characterization of polyaniline/polymethylmethacrylate blends

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI) has been widely studied as PANI has excellent electrical properties and good air stability. PANI also possesses attractive optical properties. Regardless of these interesting properties, polyaniline has only limited mechanical strength. Making composites/blends with other materials is one method for enhancing its mechanical strength and thermal stability. In the present work, attempts were made to enhance the mechanical strength and thermal stability of PANI by making PANI-Polymethylmethacrylate (PANI-PMMA) blends. PANI and PANI-PMMA blends have been synthesized using chemical oxidative polymerization technique using hydrochloric acid (HCl) as dopant. Emeraldine Salt (ES) forms of both PANI and PANI-PMMA samples were used in the present study. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman analysis were used to study the morphology of the samples. The peaks observed in the FTIR spectra are in good agreement with the reported values. The peaks in the FTIR and Raman spectra confirm the formation of PANI and PANI-PMMA blend. Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) of the samples reveals the thermal stability of the blends over PANI sample. The mechanical strength measurements depict that the strength of PANI-PMMA samples are higher than that of pure PANI. The compression strength of the PANI-PMMA samples increases considerably with increase in PMMA ratio. The compression strength is increased from 0.0811 N/m2for PANI to0.1409 N/m2for PANI-PMMA with the addition of 20% of PMMA by weight.