Influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes concentration on the properties of nanocomposites with poly(o-ethoxyaniline)

• We synthesized POEA-MWNTs nanocomposites by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization.
• Conducting polymer chains simply wrapped up around MWNTs with no strong interaction.
• Polymer chains growing process is enhanced by very low concentration of MWNTs.
• Possibility of tuning the chemicophysical properties in relation of the CNTs content.

The influence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) concentration on the physical and chemical properties of poly(o-ethoxyaniline) (POEA) nanocomposite films was investigated. We synthesized the POEA-MWNTs nanocomposites by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization at different monomer/MWNTs weight ratios under standardized conditions and thin films were fabricated by Langmuir–Shaefer (LS) method. In all cases, the synthesized nanocomposites showed enhanced physical and chemical properties and morphology with respect to pure POEA films. Experimental data showed the different concentration of MWNTs in the medium of reaction affected the final oxidation ratio of the polymer chains and highlighted that the conducting polymer chains simply wrapped up around MWNTs with no strong interaction. The presence of a very low concentration of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) inside the polymer matrix strongly enhanced the polymer chains growing process by tangling around the surface of MWNTs with a major degree of freedom and higher state of protonation.