Preparation and characterization of conducting polycaprolactone/chitosan/polypyrrole composites

A novel processing method was developed to produce conducting polycaprolactone/chitosan/polypyrrole composite membranes. Results obtained from infrared and X-ray spectra as well as thermal dynamic measurements demonstrated that there were pronounced interactions between polycaprolactone and chitosan components, and composite membranes had partially miscible microstructures. It was found that some composite membranes showed conductivity transitions at a polypyrrole load of around 2 wt.%, and significantly enhanced conductivity for these composite membranes was already achieved in overall interval of polypyrrole loads compared to those membranes composed of a single component and polypyrrole particles. The tensile properties of composite membranes both in dry and wet state were examined, and the results revealed that the tensile mechanical properties of hydrated composite membranes could be well maintained if weight ratios of polycaprolactone to chitosan were selected as appropriate values.