High Performance Fibers of Conducting Polymers

We present a summary of our recent results on the electrical and mechanical properties of fibers made from poly(2,5-dimethoxy-p-phenylene vinylene), PDMPV and poly(2,5-thienylene vinylene), PTV, using the precursor polymer methodology, and from polyaniline, PANI, using the method of processing as polyblends with poly-(p-phenylene terephthalamide), PPTA, from sulfuric acid. The solubility of both PANI and PPTA in H2SO4 presents a unique opportunity for co-dissolving and blending PANI and PPTA to exploit the excellent mechanical properties of PPTA and the electrical conductivity of PANI; we summarize the electrical and mechanical properties of such composite fibers. For PDMPV and PTV fibers, we find a strong correlation between the conductivity and the tensile strength (and/or modulus), and we show from basic theoretical concepts that this relationship is an intrinsic feature of conducting polymers.