Preparation and characterization of a conductive polyaniline/polysulfone film and evaluation of the effect of co-solvent

A novel conductive dense membrane composed of polyaniline (PANI) and polysulfone (PSU) was prepared. To improve the solubility of PANI in N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) and consequently increase the conductivity of the eventual film, a tertiary amine (1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone, DMI) was added to the solvent as a co-solvent. Different PANI solution concentrations in NMP/DMI were used to make blend films via solution blending with PSU solution in NMP in different ratio’s of PANI/PSU. The effect of the PSU fraction on the properties of the membrane has been investigated. The electrical conductivity, doping degree, crystallinity, miscibility of the polymers and shape stability were investigated. It was observed that an increase in the PSU fraction causes a decrease in the conductivity as well as less film deformation after doping. The conductivity and shape stability of the blend film were optimized by a change in PANI concentration in the casting solution and a change in the PSU fraction. The best conductivity was achieved using 3% PANI solution in NMP/DMI and the minimum percentage of PSU, allowing good shape stability after doping, was found to be 40%.