Further optimization of polypyrrole-pulp composite for the production of conductive paper

Electrically conductive cellulose fibres were made by following the method of in-situ pyrrole polymerization in the presence of pulp fibres. Not only a novel functionality was imparted to pulp fibres but processability of the intrinsic conducting polymer (ICP) was greatly improved. In this study we determined the effect of fibre morphology, including fibre length, fines content, fibre curl on the conductivity of the polypyrrole-fibre composite. Our results indicated that polypyrrole can be formed on the surface of the fibre, as well as inside the fibre wall. The surface polypyrrole is more critical to achieve the optimum electron conductivity. By following the hypothesis we found that sizing pretreatments, such as AKD sizing can decrease the amount of polypyrrole inside the fibre wall, thus improving the pyrrole efficiency. Another potential solution to the problem is to prepare polypyrrole-deposited clay and apply the modified clay to pulp fibre. Our results showed that.this technology indeed improved the pyrrole efficiency significantly.