Preparation and performance study of polyaniline-carbon nanotube/C12mimBr/ABS antistatic composites

Abstract

An antistatic agent, poly(aniline-amino-carbon nanotube) (PANI-A-CNT), was prepared using emulsion polymerization. Melt‑blending of ABS resin with C₁₂mimBr and PANI‑A‑CNT yielded the antistatic PANI‑A‑CNT/IL/ABS composites. A parallel set of IL‑free blends was also made to serve as a control. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis showed that C₁₂mimBr promotes the dissociation of carbon nanotube bundles. This effect enhances the dispersion uniformity of the PANI‑functionalized carbon nanotubes in the ABS substrate. As a result, a more complete conductive network forms within the ABS resin, which enhances the antistatic performance of the composite. With 4 wt% PANI‑A‑CNT and 6 wt% C₁₂mimBr incorporated, the resulting composite showed a surface resistivity of 6.8 × 10⁸ Ω in the resistance measurements. The addition of C₁₂mimBr reduced the surface resistance by 24.4%. Mechanical property tests showed that the addition of C₁₂mimBr also improves the mechanical properties of PANI-A-CNT/ABS. Thus, the application value of the ABS antistatic composite is ensured.