Charge transport in polyaniline protonated fully with methane sulphonic acid (MSA) and polyaniline (MSA)-polyurethane [PANI(MSA)-PU] blend has been investigated through measurements of temperature (T) and electric field (E) dependence of conductivity (σ), temperature dependence of thermoelectric power and magnetic susceptibility and electron spin resonance at room temperature. PANI(MSA) exhibits a three-dimensional variable-range hopping (VRH) type of conduction, which is not the case with HCl-doped PANI and the electric field dependence of its conductivity is also consistent with VRH behavior. The thermopower in PANI(MSA) shows metallic behavior. The blend follows a one-dimensional VRH type of conduction and the electric field dependence of its conductivity exhibits the Poole-Frenkel effect. The temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate the presence of Pauli and Curie spins in both the samples. From electron spin resonance measurements the percentage of Lorentzian and Gaussian spins have been estimated. In PANI-MSA a larger number of spins are found to be delocalized. The conduction mechanism in PANI-PU blend is discussed in comparison to other commercial conducting polymer blends.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.55.10734