Mechanical, dynamic mechanical, morphological, thermal behavior and processability of polyaniline and ethylene 1-octene based semi-conducting composites

The polyaniline (PAni) was prepared by the oxidative emulsion polymerization of aniline. Different semi-conducting composites were prepared by mixing this PAni with a polyolefinic thermoplastic elastomer namely ethylene I-octene copolymer (EN) with different ratio. The effect of composition on different mechanical, dynamic mechanical, and thermal properties of these composites and their processability were investigated. The results revealed that the increased incorporation of PAni in EN caused increase in the modulus, hardness, glass transition temperature (T-g), and apparent shear viscosity, but caused decrease in the tensile strength, elongation at rupture, damping character, and die-swell during injection molding. The base matrix is thermoplastic elastomer for which vulcanization is not required. However, it is found that if such composites are subjected to electron beam (EB) radiation, they can undergo some cross-linking. The introduction of crosslinks to such system through EB radiation improves mechanical properties. The flow behavior shows the material is pseudo-plastic in nature. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.