Electrically conductive carbon nanopipe-graphite nanosheet/polyaniline composites

Carbon nanopipe (CNP)–graphite nanosheet (GNS)/polyaniline (PANI) composites are synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The structural analysis (electron microscopy, Raman and X-ray diffraction) reveal that PANI is uniformly coated on both CNP and GNS structures resulting in the formation of a network of uniform composite structures. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that CNP–GNS/PANI composites are thermally stable up to 300 °C; the polymeric backbone degrades above 300 °C. CNP–GNS/PANI composites doped with m-cresol, a mixture of camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) and chloroform, and a mixture of CSA and m-cresol are electrically conductive. The electrical conductivity strongly depends on the dopants and about six orders of variation in conductivity can be achieved through the choice of the dopant.