1. Instituto de Macromoléculas Professora Eloisa Mano, IMA/UFRJ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, CP 68525, Rio de Janeiro 21945‐970 RJ, Brasil;2. Centro de Pesquisas Leopoldo A. Miguez de Mello – CENPES/PETROBRAS, Ilha do Fund?o, Rio de Janeiro 21945‐970 RJ, Brasil;3. LAMAV/Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, Av. Alberto Lamego 2000, Campos dos Goytacazes 28013‐620 RJ, Brasil;4. Departamento de Engenharia Química/EQ, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, CP 68502, Rio de Janeiro 21945‐970 RJ, Brasil;5. Programa de Engenharia Química/COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, CP 68502, Rio de Janeiro 21945‐970 RJ, Brasil
Abstract:
The surface of natural Brazilian amazonic fibers (curauá, Ananas erectifolius) was modified with polyaniline nanoparticles, through in situ preparation of polyaniline nanoparticles in presence of the curauá fibers. This allowed for a significant increase in the electrical conductivity of the fibers (≈2 500 times). As the electrical resistivity of the modified fibers is a function of the applied external pressure, the produced composites can be used as a cheap pressure‐sensing material. The modified materials were also characterized by FT‐IR, XPS and SAXS, and the obtained results were used to explain some of the observed characteristics of the materials.
