In this article, we report the preparation of
conducting natural rubber (NR) with polyaniline (Pani). NR
was made into a conductive material by the compounding
of NR with Pani in powder form. NR latex was made into a
conductive material by the in situ polymerization of aniline
in the presence of NR latex. Different compositions of Pani-
NR semi-interpenetrating networks were prepared, and the
dielectric properties of all of the samples were determined
in microwave frequencies. The cavity perturbation techpique was used for this study. A HP8510 vector network analyzer
with a rectangular cavity resonator was used for this
study. S bands 2-4 GHz in frequency were used. Thermal
studies were also carried out with thermogravimetric analysis
and differential scanning calorimetry.
Poly(6-tert-butyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-1,3-benzoxazine) was synthesized by
thermally activated cationic ring opening polymerization. The structure of the
polymer was confirmed by spectral and thermal studies. The highest occupied
molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) were
estimated using cyclic voltammetry and optical absorption. Modulated photocurrent
measurement technique was employed to study the spectral and field dependence of
photocurrent. Photocurrent of the order of 1.5 micro A/m2 was obtained for polymer at a
biasing electric field of 40 V/mico m.