Effect of multiwalled carbon nanotubes on electrical conductivity and magnetoconductivity of polyaniline

Goutam Chakraborty, Kajal Gupta, Dipak Rana and Ajit Kumar Meikap

Abstract

An in situ chemical polymerization method was applied in order to prepare polyaniline-multiwalled carbon nanotube (PANI-MWCNT) composites with different concentrations of MWCNT. X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, optical absorption and photoluminescence analyses of the composites were performed to investigate the structural, morphological and optical properties of the composites. Electrical transport properties of different PANI-MWCNT composites were investigated in the temperature range 77 K ≤ T ≤  300 K in the presence and also in the absence of a magnetic field up to 1 T. The dc resistivity of the composites follows Mott's variable range hopping theory. Two different slopes have been observed in temperature variation of resistivity, which occurs due to the presence of MWCNT in the polymer matrix. The magnetoconductivity of the samples at different temperatures is negative, which can be explained by the wavefunction shrinkage effect