Electrical and dielectric properties of self-assembled polyaniline on barium sulphate surface

Solid polymer electrolytes have been broadly studied due to their wide applications in various electrochemical devices. In the present work, the electrical properties of polyaniline and its composites with BaSO₄ have been studied. The polymerization of aniline monomer via the ordinary chemical polymerization process showed an amorphous structure. Whereas, in the presence of BaSO₄ as a seed, the aniline is polymerized in an orthorhombic crystalline structure on the BaSO₄-surface. Two composite samples of PANI and BaSO₄ with different amounts of BaSO₄ (1.5 and 2.5 wt%) were prepared and analyzed using XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and XPS techniques. The ac- electrical studies on the composites showed an enhancement in the electrical conductivity of PANI due to the addition of BaSO₄. Ac- conductivity at frequency 500 kHz, and 100 °C, showed values of 1.9 × 10⁻³, 5.4 × 10⁻⁴, 1.6 × 10⁻¹, and 1.9 × 10⁻¹ S/cm for PANI, BaSO₄, BaSO₄/PANI 1.5 wt%, and BaSO₄/PANI 2.5 wt%, respectively.