Reactive doping of PAni–CSA and its use in microwave absorbing materials

Conductive coatings have been studied for static dissipation and as microwave absorbing materials. The doping process of polyaniline (PAni), which makes it conductive, is an important stage that determines the coating performance. For this purpose, polyaniline was doped by reactive processing in a torque rheometer using different molar ratios between PAni and acid (PAni:CSA) at three different temperatures (80, 90, and 100°C). Aqueous solution doping was also used in the ratio of 1:2 of PAni/CSA, with the aim to investigate the influence of different methods of PAni doping on its characteristics and, consequently, on the performance of coatings. Thermal analyses of the processed materials showed that PAni doped by both routes, reactive and solution processing, showed similar behaviors. X‐ray diffraction analyses showed a semicrystalline structure for the PAni–CSA doped by reactive processing using high CSA concentrations and temperature. It was also observed that the doping process affects the dispersion of the components into the conductive coatings. Microwave absorption measurements (8–12 GHz) of PU‐doped PAni blends showed the dependence of the doping type, the PAni–CSA concentration, and the mixing conditions of the components on the coating performance; it was found up to 99% of attenuation of the incident radiation for some composites in a narrow frequency range. The microwave absorption efficiency of the coating samples prepared by using the reactive doping process indicates the advantage of this methodology over solution doping. Moreover, the reactive process addresses the environmental requirements. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.