OPTICAL-QUALITY TRANSPARENT CONDUCTIVE POLYANILINE FILMS

Optical quality transparent conducting films of polyaniline (PANI) and of conducting polyblends of polyaniline with amorphous bulk polymers are described. Using functionalized protonic acids to induce solubility in common organic solvents, PANI and PANI-polyblends can be cast from solution, in the conducting form, onto a variety of substrates. The resulting films are clear, and they combine low surface resistance, R(sq), with excellent transparency. By varying the thickness of the film and/or the volume fraction of PANI in the polyblend, the surface resistance and transmittance can be controlled. Colored, highly conducting, optically clear PANI polyblends can be produced, when sulfonic acid dyes are used.