Effect of polyaniline content and protonating dopants on electroconductive composites

Elastic constructive elements prepared by electrospinning using polyacrylonitrile/polyaniline (PAN/PANI) electroconductive composites were prepared and investigated in terms of their thermal and mechanical properties. This study was focused on the impact of the type of counterion of polyaniline and the PANI content in composites on the thermal, conductive and morphological properties of electrospun fibers. In this study, composites obtained from PANI doped with sulfuric acid showed the highest conductivity, and composites obtained from PANI doped with hydrochloric acid showed the highest thermal stability. All obtained composites exhibited good thermal stability, with T5 values in the range of 230–268 °C that increased with increasing PANI content. The prepared composites exhibited comparable PAN Tg values, which indicates their suitability for processing. Instrumental analysis of polymers and composites was carried out using UV–visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy.