pps proceeding - Abstract Preview
pps proceeding
Symposium: S08 - Polymer blends
Oral Presentation
 
 

Developing conducting immiscible PP/PS blends with a percolated polyaniline/PA filler by tuning their specific interactions with the compatibilizer

Hejmady Prakhyat (1), Barathi Avanish (2), Cardinaels Ruth (3), Moldenaers Paula (2)*

(1) TU Eindhoven - Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ, P.B. 513 - Netherlands, (2) KU Leuven - Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001 Leuven - Belgium, (3) TU Eindhoven - Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ, P.B. 513 - Netherlands

We have investigated the effect of master batch preparation techniques such as by extrusion and solution casting to develop a double-percolated network of conducting Polyaniline (PANI) in immiscible PP/PS blends. The strategy adopted to develop conducting blends was to concomitantly drive the morphology of the immiscible blend to a cocontinuous structure and control the localization of the PANI using specific interactions with an interfacially segregated SEBS-g-MA compatibilizer. A percolated composite of PANI in Polyamide (PA) is used as the conducting filler, and we envisage that the hydrogen bonding of PA with MA of the copolymer drives the localization of the PANI to the copolymer. Hence, master batches of the conducting PANI and copolymer with increasing PANI concentration were prepared by extrusion and solution casting. The master batches were subsequently added to the polymer constituents (PS or PP/PS) using different sequences of solution and melt mixing to localize the PANI either in the polar PS phase or partially at the interphase. The thus prepared blends led to a synergistic increase in the conductivity (6 decades) and dynamic moduli with increasing PANI and copolymer concentrations, whose effect was investigated for various blend compositions. Our findings were warranted by STEM micrographs, in which for blends with solution casted master batches, PANI-PA selectively localized at the interphase or in the minority matrix phase of the PP/PS blend. The latter was attained due to phase inversion with increased copolymer concentration. In addition, we established the essential role of interactions between the conductive PANI-PA composite and the MA functionality of the SEBS-g-MA in the localization process. In summary, various master batch techniques were employed to optimize the percolation of the conductive polymer PANI in PP/PS blends, allowing to generate easily processable conductive PP-PS blends.