Novel conductive core–shell particles of elastomeric nanoparticles coated with polypyrrole

For the first time, an ultrafine conductive particle with core–shell structure, acrylonitrile-butadiene elastomeric nanoparticle (NBR-ENP) coated with polypyrrole (PPy), was prepared by in situ oxidative polymerization. The resistivity of NBR-ENP/PPy particle could reach to 25 Ω m. By using NBR-ENP/PPy latex, PVA/NBR-ENP/PPy composite with resistivity of 170 Ω m was prepared. For comparison, carboxylic acrylonitrile butadiene-ENP/polypyrrole (CNBR-ENP/PPy) with core–shell structure and styrene butadiene-ENP/polypyrrole (SBR-ENP/PPy) with raspberry-like structure were also prepared. It was found that both CNBR-ENP/PPy and SBR-ENP/PPy have much higher resistivity compared with NBR-ENP/PPy. Their resistivity differences were analyzed and the possible reason was proposed.