Conductive composite films based on polypyrrole and crosslinked poly(styrene/ butyl acrylate/acrylic acid)

Abstract

A new conductive composite film based on polypyrrole and crosslinked poly(styrene/butyl acrylate/acrylic acid) (PSBA) was synthesized by vapor phase polymerization of pyrrole within the silicon crosslinked PSBA using anhydrous ferric chloride as oxidant. These films had high conductivity and good mechanical properties. They were very flexible and strong (e.g. elongation yield: 94.7%, tensile strength: 6.2 MPa), and the maximum conductivity achieved was 2.2 S cm-1 and the lowest surface resistance was 74 Ω cm-2. The factors affecting the properties of the conductive composite film were investigated in detail. The surface resistance and the conductivity were strongly affected by the overoxidative reaction of polypyrrole which took place mainly at the outermost surface layer of the film. The mechanical properties, however, were largely unaffected. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.