ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES OF POLYANILINE SUSPENSIONS

The ordering of electrically conducting polyaniline particles disperse d in a non-conducting Liquid, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, in a weak electr ic field (of the order V mm(-1)) has been studied. The time needed for the formation of conducting chains, depending on the applied voltage, the polyaniline concentration and the viscosity of the suspension med ium, was used to calculate the effective relative electric permittivit y for polyaniline, epsilon(p)=4.8, responsible for the dipole-dipole i nteraction leading to the structure formation. Nonlinear limit current -voltage characteristics typical of electrorheological suspensions wer e observed. The formation of the conducting chains could be followed i n an optical microscope. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights res erved.