The Electrochemical Properties of Polyaniline–Carbon Nanotube Composite Fibres

Electronically conducting polymers especially polyaniline (PAni) exhibit a wide range of electrochemical properties and have been applied in areas such as sensors [1], electrochromic devices [2] and energy storage devices including supercapacitors and batteries [3]. PAni has good redox reversibility and high environmental stability.Polyaniline fibres are being developed to be used in e-textiles (textiles with electronic functionality). The integration of electronic components into conventional garments to introduce novel fashion effects, visual displays, or audio and computing systems has generated interest in recent years [4]. Such systems are also proving useful in the development of wearable diagnostic systems for monitoring of vital data (heart, pulse rate, etc.) in medical and military applications.In this work PAni fibers containing multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) as reinforcing material were successfully spun from a spinning solution prepared from the PAni protonated with 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acId (AMPSA) in dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) as a solvent by a wet-spinning process, in which the acetone was used as a coagulant. The electroactivity of the fibres was iNvestigated. The fibres h!d good electroactivity, as shown by cyclic voltammetry. High conductivity ald ex#ellent electrochemical stability make PAni/MWNT fibres suitable for many electronic textile applications, including wearable diagnostics systems