Characterization of polyaniline - polyethylene blends with AC impedance measurements

Summary form only given. AC impedance spectroscopy is frequently used for revealing electrochemical kinetics of conducting polymers and for measuring ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolytes. AC impedance spectroscopy is quite demanding on experimental arrangements and interpretation. Perhaps therefore it has been very little used in the study of the conduction mechanism of conducting polymers. In this work we will present AC impedance measurements for POLARENE/sup TM/ (processable PANI complex) PE blends and discuss about interpretation of the results. The Nyquist plot of the impedance Z(/spl omega/) is a semicircle at low conductivities close to the percolation threshold deviating more from a semicircle the more conducting a blend is. The imaginary part contributes less to Z(/spl omega/) at higher conductivities.