Ageing and lifespan of PANI-CSA: Kinetics of conductivity decay and chemical degradations

We present kinetics studies of the conductivity decay of PANI(CSA)0,5 films cast from m-cresol solutions obtained through accelerated ageing tests. In first approximation, the conductivity degradation in air can be treated as a pseudo-first order process in which the time constant follow an Arrhenius law. The related activation energy is linked to the PANI quality. Ageing studies in different atmospheres and FTIR characterization of unaged and aged films underline the role of dedoping, oxidation, and chemical crosslinking processes.