Thermal behavior of polyaniline films and polyaniline-polystyrene blends

In this article, a study of the thermal behavior of polyaniline films and polyaniline-polystyrene blends is presented. Transport measurements (electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power) at high temperature and thermogravimetric analysis show that an irreversible degradation is observed near 450 K for films doped with DiOHP and near 500 K for films doped with CSA. In both cases, the thermoelectric power is the most sensitive parameter to electrical degradation during the heating of conducting films. Electrical conductivity measurements during heating-cooling cycles show a diminution of the room temperature conductivity after evaporation of the solvent (water, m-cresol). A model of cluster with a variable diameter allows interpreting this phenomenon by assuming the existence of a sensitive frontier to the solvent at the periphery of conducting clusters. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.