Simultaneous enhancement of electrical conductivity and mechanical properties in buckypaper-reinforced polydivinylbenzene(doped polyaniline) composites
Xiuyan Cheng, Tomohiro Yokozeki, Haopeng Wang, Lixin Wu, Qingfu Sun
The key barrier to design conductive polymer composites with maintained mechanical performance is to increase the content of conductive nanofillers with well-dispersity in the polymer matrix. Here we report new buckypaper (BP) reinforced polydivinylbenzene (PDVB)/doped polyaniline (DPANI) composites with significant improvement in both electrical and mechanical properties. The composites have been fabricated through a positive-pressure filtration method which features high loading of well-dispersed oxidized MWCNTs. The electrical conductivity and the elastic modulus of the BP reinforced composites were found to be 11.56 and 6.88-times improved, respectively, compared to the native PDVB(DPANI). The enhancement mechanism is explained by the formation of electrical transport pathways and an extensive molecular-level interaction between BP and DPANI. The enhancement effect has also been confirmed by comparing the experiment result with theoretical calculations following the Tandon-Weng model. The fabrication strategy and the analysis method presented herein can be used for the design of new functional polymer composites with both high electrical conductivity and high modulus.