PREPARATION OF TRANSPARENT CONDUCTING ACRYLIC COMPOSITE AND ITS ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/polythiophene (PTP) composite films were prepared by polymerizing thiophene vapor in PAN films impregnated with sulfuric acid or aluminum chloride as an initiator. After polymerization of thiophene for 1 h, the electrical conductivities of composites reach in the range of 10−7–10−3S/cm depending on the initiator and its concentration. The stability of conductivity to ambient air exposure is excellent. The transparency of composite films has been estimated by transmittance at the maximum absorption wavelength of 593 nm. The transmittance of composite film prepared with 10% of sulfuric acid on the weight of PAN reaches above 90%. The transparency has been maintained for the period of experiment, i.e., 1 month under ambient air exposure. Sulfuric acid is more effective than aluminium chloride for the preparation of transparent conducting PAN/PTP composite films. Copyright © 1990 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.