Mechanical response and network characterization of conductive polyaniline/polyacrylamide gels

Electroactive gels based on polyaniline (PANI) and polyacrylamide (PAAm) were prepared by polymerization of aniline in the solution of linear PAAm and subsequent precipitation of PANI/PAAm dispersion in acetone. It has been shown that the composite gels are capable to swelling in water acid and base solutions and dimethyl sulfoxide. It was established by mechanical tests and dynamic oscillatory measurements that the swollen gels demonstrate the elastic response like a covalently crosslinked network but with strong physical interactions between the chains. It is supposed that the observed mechanical elasticity is due to the certain number of elastically effective chemical bonds between PANI and PAAm chains. It is proved that the structure of the samples containing space continuous phase of PANI in the network of PAAm provides them mechanical integrity, good-quality mechanical response, swelling ability and electrical activity.