A one-pot water mediated process for developing conductive composites with segregated network of poly particles

Conductive polymer composites (CPCs) with segregated networks are highly desirable for lowering the percolation threshold as well as the synergetic upgrading of electrical and thermal properties. Here we disclose a one-pot water mediated process for developing conductive composite of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with dense poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) surface as segregated conductive channel. The key idea is the judicious handling of surface charges of PMMA latex and 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) emulsion which are prepared using surfactant free emulsion polymerization and acoustic emulsification, respectively. The obtained composite shows refinement in material properties as compared to the composites prepared using conventional methods. The composite provides about ~10.sup.5 and ~10.sup.7 fold increase in electrical conductivity as compared to the composites prepared by the direct addition of EDOT to the PMMA latex and physical blending of PMMA with PEDOT bulk particles, respectively. Additionally it shows ~ 10.sup.11 fold increase in electrical conductivity compared with the PMMA matrix. This method opens up a new path in sustainable materials research for the synthesis of conductive polymer composites.