Melt/Solution Processable Polyaniline and Blends

680-689Conducting polyaniline (PANI) has been attracting great attention in recent times clue to its electrical, electrochemical and optical properties as well as its environmental stability. Unfortunately, the limitations in synthetic procedures and poor processability of PANI have restricted its commercialization. It opened up vast avenues in research for developing novel methods and techniques of both scientific and industrial importance for making conducting polymers fusible or soluble. During the past few years, many attempts have been made to improve processability of PANI such as doping with functionalised dopants, blending with conventional polymers, novel synthetic routes for the preparation or PANI and its modification with various ring or N-substituents. Among the methods so far developed, the protonation of PANI with functionalised dopants and blending with thermoplastics are the strategies being widely adopted. Functionalised dopants possessing plasticising cum protonating abilities synthesized from naturally existing materials, are also reported to be promising. Thus, the use or functionalised dopants possessing plasticising cum protonating abilities could be of value in preparing melt/solution processable blends or thermoplastics/elastomeric polymers with PANI and might pave way for solutions to problems such as processability, cost and reliability on commercialisation or the conducting polymers and its blends