Synthesis and Characterization of Conducting PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3) Core-Shell Nanocomposites by In Situ Polymerization

Polyaniline doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid/χ-aluminum oxide (PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3)) conducting core-shell nanocomposites was synthesized via an in situ polymerization method in this study. PANDB was synthesized in the presence of dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA), which functioned as a dopant and surfactant. The electrical conductivity of the conducting PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3) core-shell nanocomposite was approximately 1.7 × 10(−1) S/cm when the aniline/χ-Al(2)O(3) (AN/χ-Al(2)O(3)) weight ratio was 1.5. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results indicated that the χ-Al(2)O(3) nanoflakes were thoroughly coated by PANDB to form the core-shell (χ-Al(2)O(3)-PANDB) structure. The TEM and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images of the conducting PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3) core-shell nanocomposites also indicated that the thickness of the PANDB layer (shell) could be increased as the weight ratio of AN/χ-Al(2)O(3) was increased. In this study, the optimum weight ratio of AN/χ-Al(2)O(3) was identified as 1.5. The conducting PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3) core-shell nanocomposite was then blended with water-based polyurethane (WPU) to form a conducting WPU/PANDB/χ-Al(2)O(3) blend film. The resulting blend film has promising antistatic and electrostatic discharge (ESD) properties.