Electrically conductive epoxy/polyaniline composite fabrication and characterization for electronic applications

Abstract

This study reports on the electrical conductivity, dielectric, and electromagnetic interferenc (EMI) shielding properties of conductive epoxy/PAni blend containing various concentrations. Polyaniline (PAni) was synthesized using oxidative chemical polymerization technique and then dispersed into epoxy resin using a sonication bath. Infrared spectra confirm the curing of composites. Increasing the aspect ratio of PAni in epoxy increased the electrical conductivity and improves the microwave absorption properties of composites in the microwave range (0.1 GHz–20 GHz). Electrical conductivity was measured by using the four-probe method, and the maximum conductivity of the composite was achieved 3.51 × 10⁻¹³ Scm⁻¹ with 30 wt% of PAni. The maximum porosity of the composite with 30 wt% of PAni was 15.5%. EMI shielding was measured by a vector network analyzer (VNA) in the microwave region (0.1 GHz–20 GHz), which gives the maximum value of 63 dB. IR shielding was measured by IR spectroscopy and less than 0.5% transmission was observed in NIR (700 nm–2500 nm) region. The average particle size of PAni is found to be 113 nm. These composites were used as a potential candidate for conductive coatings, EMI shielding purposes, and electronic applications.