Role of dopant counter-anion functionality in polyaniline salts/blends and implications to morphology

Polyanilines are of particular current interest primarily due to their relative ease of synthesis, low cost and stable conductivity in air. The insulating, polyaniline emeraldine base (PANI-EB) form becomes electrically conducting by preferential protonation or doping the imine nitrogen sites to yield an electrically conducting polyaniline emeraldine salt (PANI-ES). In this paper, wide and small angle X-ray scattering techniques (i.e., WAXS and SAXS) and light microscopy are used to characterize the influence of the dopant`s structure on the morphology of both polyaniline salt and blend. In an attempt to modify the morphology of the PANI-ES, the authors have evaluated a number of doping acids (i.e., methane sulfonic acid (HMSA), butane sulfonic acid (HBSA), dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid (HDBSA) and camphor sulfonic acid (HCSA)) that vary in size and polarity to better understanding the role of the acid in PANI-ES`s morphology and the resulting electrical conductivity. The other goal was to investigate the effect of the counter-anion structure on the nature of the phase separated PANI-ES network. The shape of the PANI-ES network in the host polycaprolactam has important implications on the nature of conduction behavior and the final electrical conductivity of the blend.