Processing, characterization and properties of conducting polyaniline-sulfonated SEBS block copolymers

Incorporation of polyaniline (PAni) into thermoplastic elastomers can be used to produce materials that potentially combine the good mechanical properties and processability of thermoplastic elastomers with electrical, magnetic and optical characteristics of PAni. In this work, a polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene copolymer (SEBS) was chemically modified by grafting a sulfonic group onto the chain backbone in order to promote higher levels of compatibility between the thermoplastic elastomer and polyaniline. The sulfonation process was performed by reacting SEBS with acetyl sulfate. Infrared spectroscopy and titration were used to monitor the amount of sulfonic groups successfully grafted on SEBS. Mechanical tests performed in sulfonated SEBS showed that sulfonation levels lower than 15% did not reduce substantially the mechanical properties of SEBS. PAni doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (PAni·DBSA), used in the preparation of the blends, was prepared by the “in situ doping polymerization” method. PAni·DBSA was then blended in solution with SEBS having different levels of sulfonation. The introduction of sulfonic group into the structure of SEBS improved coulombic interactions between the phases in the blend and enhanced compatibility. As a consequence, higher values of electrical conductivity (measured by the four-probe method) were achieved in blends with sulfonic groups grafted onto polymer chains. Concentrations as low as 20 wt% of PAni were able to lead to electrical conductivities of PAni·DBSA/sulfonated SEBS blends close to 1.2 S/cm. Optical micrographs of the blends showed that PAni·DBSA/sulfonated SEBS microstructure is composed of a very disperse group of small conducting particles. This type of microstructure would then be responsible for the enhanced electrical conductivity and low percolation threshold of PAni·DBSA/sulfonated SEBS, when compared to PAni·DBSA/SEBS blends.