Melt-processed, electrically conductive ternary polymer blends containing polyaniline

Conductive binary and ternary blends containing polyaniline (PANI) were dev eloped through melt blending. The investigation of the binary blends focuse d on their morphology in light of the interactions between their components and on the resulting electrical conductivity. Similar solubility parameter s of PANI and a constituting polymer lead to a fine PANI particle segregate d dispersion within that polymer and to the formation of conducting paths a t low PANI contents. In ternary blends consisting of PANI and two immiscibl e polymers, the PANI preferentially locates in one of the phases due to inc reased interactions between PANI and the preferred polymer. This concentrat ion magnification effect leads to increased electrical conductivity at lowe r PANI nominal contents. The electrical conductivity of a ternary blend is mainly determined by the effective PANI content in the preferred phase, by the level of PANI fracturing in this phase, and by the details of the condu ctive network structure created in the co-continuous structure blend.