Simultaneous enhancement of electrical conductivity and mechanical properties in buckypaper-reinforced polydivinylbenzene(doped polyaniline) composites

The key barrier to design conductive polymer composites with maintained mechanical performance is to increase the content of conductive nanofillers with well-dispersity in the polymer matrix. Here we report new buckypaper (BP) reinforced polydivinylbenzene (PDVB)/doped polyaniline (DPANI) composites with significant improvement in both electrical and mechanical properties. The composites have been fabricated through a positive-pressure filtration method which features high loading of well-dispersed oxidized MWCNTs. The electrical conductivity and the elastic modulus of the BP reinforced composites were found to be 11.56 and 6.88-times improved, respectively, compared to the native PDVB(DPANI). The enhancement mechanism is explained by the formation of electrical transport pathways and an extensive molecular-level interaction between BP and DPANI. The enhancement effect has also been confirmed by comparing the experiment result with theoretical calculations following the Tandon-Weng model. The fabrication strategy and the analysis method presented herein can be used for the design of new functional polymer composites with both high electrical conductivity and high modulus.