Conducting rubbery blends of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) triblock copolymer and polyaniline doped with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (Pani.DBSA) were produced by "in situ" polymerization. The films obtained by compression-molding display low percolation threshold with conductivity values similar to that found for pure Pani.DBSA with only 20 wt% of Pani.DBSA in the SBS/Pani.DBSA blend. The dynamic-mechanical characterization demonstrated that PAni.DBSA presents a slight interaction with both phases of the SBS copolymer. In the rubbery region, the modulus of the blend increases with the increase of the Pani content. The values of Tg of the polybutadiene block were not affected by the addition of Pani. However, there is a progressive drop of the damping values with the increase of Pani concentration. The activation energy Ea for the glass transition process for both SBS phases was calculated from DMTA and DETA results, using the Arrhenius equation. From DMTA data, it is found that Ea corresponding to the PB segment of SBS presents a slight increase with the addition of Pani.DBSA, whereas the Ea corresponding to the PS segment increases substantially with the presence of Pani.DBSA. These results were also confirmed by DETA. The dielectric characterization does not provide conclusive information concerning the preferential localization of Pani.DBSA, but gives some information about interfacial polarization between the Pani and SBS in this blend. The formation of microtubules was observed by scanning electron microscopy in the SBS/Pani.DBSA blends.
Polyaniline; dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid; SBS; "in situ" polymerization
