Thermal and mechanical behaviour of a conductive elastomeric blend based on a soluble polyaniline derivative

The electrical, mechanical and thermal behaviour of a conductive polymer bl end prepared by combining the elastomer poly(epichlorohydrin-co-ethylene ox ide); which presents ionic conductivity when containing LiClI4, and a solub le derivative of polyaniline, poly(o-methoxyaniline) doped with It-toluene sulfonic acid, is described in this work. This mixture presents electrical conductivity sufficient for substitution with advantages to the existing co nductive elastomers in several applications. Concentrations of the electron ic conducting polymer up to 10% (w/w) increase the electrical conductivity of the elastomer by three orders of magnitude, with no changes in its mecha nical properties. With 50% (w/w) of poly(o-methoxyaniline), the electrical conductivity of the mixture reaches 10(-3) S cm-l. Thermal stability of the components are affected by the mixture. DSC and SEM experiments indicate p hase separation in the blend. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.