Electrical Properties of Well-Dispersed Nanopolyaniline/Epoxy Hybrids Prepared Using an Absorption-Transferring Process

Novel polyaniline (PANI)/epoxy hybrids have been fabricated using an absorption-transferring process in which no organic solvent is involved. An epoxy prepolymer cured by aniline monomer (DGEBA-aniline) was added to a freshly prepared PANI nanoparticles (NPs) aqueous solution with vigorous agitation and heating (ca. 90 °C). The PANI NPs were absorbed on the surface of epoxy droplet and then transferred into the whole droplet. The microstructures of the product PANI/epoxy hybrids, characterized using scanning electron microscopy, featured well-dispersed PANI NPs (ca. 40∼60 nm) within epoxy matrixes; no large aggregates were observed. The hybrids exhibited huge negative permittivities; the electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency in an electric field at low frequency (100−1000 MHz) was ca. 30−60 dB. The well-dispersed PANI NPs not only provided a continuous conducting network but also a higher level of charge delocalization.