Morphology and electrical conductivity in polyaniline/polyolefin blends

The effects of processing and molecular composition on the morphology and e lectrical conductivity of melt pressed polyaniline (PANI)/polyolefin blends have been investigated, In all systems, the morphology was found to consis t of two distinct phases, a conducting network of PAM embedded within the t hermoplastic host, Low field conductivities ranging from 10(-14) to 10(-4) S/cm could be accessed, through a suitable choice of PANI content and proce ssing conditions. To 200 V/mm, the conductivity of the material was found t o increase exponentially with applied field, thereafter remaining close to constant until the onset of breakdown. On further analysis, the applied fie ld E dependence of conduction current i prior to breakdown was found to obe y a relationship of the form i = A sinh(bE), as reported in the literature for insulators in the so-called low-field regime. Despite the dramatic vari ations in electrical properties that result from incorporation of the condu cting polymer, the low strain mechanical properties were not degraded to an y great degree.