Influence of Carbon Nanotubes on Thermal Stability of Water-Dispersible Nanofibrillar Polyaniline/Nanotube Composite

Significant influence on the thermal stability of polyaniline (PANI) in the presence of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is reported. By means of in-situ rapid mixing approach, water-dispersible nanofibrillar PANI and composites, consisting of MWCNTs uniformly coated with PANI in the state of emeraldine salt, with a well-defined core-shell heterogeneous structure, were prepared. The de-protonation process in PANI occurs at a lower temperature under the presence of MWCNTs on the polyaniline composite upon thermal treatment. However, it is found that the presence of MWCNTs significantly enhances the thermal stability of PANI’s backbone upon exposure to laser irradiation, which can be ascribed to the core-shell heterogeneous structure of the composite of MWCNTs and PANI, and the high thermal conductivity of MWCNTs.