PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF TRANSPARENT AND CONDUCTING NYLON 6-BASED COMPOSITE FILMS

Highly transparent and conducting polypyrrole-(PPy-N) and polyaniline-nylon 6 (PAN) composite films could be easily obtained by immersing nylon 6 films containing pyrrole or aniline into an oxidant solution such as aqueous FeCl3 solution or aqueous (NH4)(2)S2O8 solution containing HCl. The conductivity, transmittance, and mechanical properties of these composite films were affected by the preparative conditions. The maximum conductivity and transmittance of the PPy-N composite films were 10(-3) S/cm and about 75% at 550 nm, and in the case of the PA-N composite films, 10(-2) S/cm and 75%, respectively. The morphology of PPy-N and PA-N composite films depended on the polymerization conditions, which might be due to the difference in the polymerization speed of pyrrole or aniline in polymer matrices. These PPy-N and PA-N composite films exhibited good environmental stability and excellent mechanical properties. (C) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.