Preparation of Honeycomb-patterned Polyaniline-MWCNT/Polystyrene Composite Film and Studies on DC Conductivity

Conductive honeycomb-patterned polystyrene (PS) thin films were prepared by the formation of a polyaniline (PANI) thin layer on the surface of the patterned PS thin films using simple one-step chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. The in situ chemical oxidation polymerization of aniline hydrochloride solution on the patterned structure of the PS films was conducted in the presence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) to prepare the PANI-MWCNT/PS composite film. The concentration (wt %) of MWCNT was varied in the range of 1%-3% by weight. The dependence of surface morphology of the PANI/PS and PANI-MWCNT/PS composite film to the polymerization time was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The room temperature DC conductivity was obtained by the four-probe technique. The conductivity of the PANI-MWCNT/PS composite film was affected both by the MWCNT concentration and polymerization time. In addition, DC electrical field was loaded during the oxidative polymerization to affect the distribution of the MWCNT included in the composite film, varying the loading voltage in the range of 0.1-3.0 V. The conductivity of the PANI-MWCNT/PS composite film was increased as loading voltage rose. However, this increase stops at a voltage higher than the critical value.