Polymer-based carbon nanotube (CNT) conductive composites are playing a pivotal role in technologies requiring light-weight structures and the integration of multifunctional properties, such as electrical conductivity, electrostatic dissipation, and electromagnetic shielding. Polymer-CNT composites often suffer from poor mechanical and electrical properties arising from electrically insulating polymer matrices with poor CNT dispersion. In this work, highly conductive composites were developed via solution processing by dispersing pristine single-walled CNTs (swCNTs) in charge neutral, intrinsically conductive polymer matrices. These composites achieved one of the highest conductivities (s = 16.5 S cm-1 at 30 wt% swCNT) and the lowest percolation threshold (φc = 0.28 wt%) reported for solution-processed neutral composites. Polymer structure-property relationships were systematically investigated by varying the polymer side chain length. Neat polymer film conductivity improved by one order of magnitude as side chain length decreased from 16 carbons (s = 0.7 mS cm-1) to 12 carbons (s = 8.3 mS cm-1). Moreover, these composites demonstrated unprecedented weathering stability with conductivity retained for more than one month after continuous exposure to light, air, and moisture. This work overcomes obstacles in highly conductive composite manufacturing by producing charge neutral composites with well-dispersed swCNTs and tunable electrical properties.

Highly conductive composites of intrinsically conductive conjugated polymers and carbon nanotubes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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