Electrically Conductive Nonwoven Materials Produced by Electrospinning of Polyaniline and Commodity Polymers

Abstract

Electrically conductive micro- and nanofibrous nonwoven materials were obtained by electrospinning of solutions of blends of polyaniline and a number of commodity polymers (polyamide-6, polylactic acid, polystyrene, polyethylene oxide). The average fiber diameter is in range of 0.5–6 µm; the addition of polyaniline to the spinning solution leads to a decrease in the fiber diameter. The composition of the obtained materials was confirmed by IR spectroscopy. It was found that during electrospinning the supramolecular structure of polyamide-6 and polylactide change (from α-phase to γ- and amorphous phases, respectively), while polyaniline does not form crystalline structures. It was shown that the specific electrical conductivity of the obtained nonwoven fabrics may reach 10^–3 S/cm, which allows for their application both in tissue engineering and in organic electronics.