Revealing the effects of various acid dopants on the electrical conductivity and electrochemical activity of conductive polyaniline fabrics

In this research, the effect of different acid dopants including para-toluene sulfonic acid (pTSA), phytic acid (PA), and hydrochloric acid (HCl) on the electrical conductivity of polyaniline (PANI) fabrics prepared through an easy immersion technique was investigated. The conductive state of the initial emeraldine salt green color of PANI was modified upon the addition of these dopants. To analyze the chemical structure and surface morphology of the fabrics, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to determine the conductivity values, and the highest values were recorded for PANI/HCl at 1.63 ± 1.79 × 10−1 S/cm, followed by PANI/PA at 2.56 ± 5.59 × 10−2 S/cm and PANI/pTSA at 3.00 ± 6.24×10−3 S/cm. Additionally, cyclic voltammetry (CV) indicated that the oxidation potential of PANI/HCl was the highest at 0.34 V, followed by PANI/PA at 0.22 V and PANI/pTSA at 0.18 V. These results could potentially be useful in developing electrochemical, electrical, and physical properties for sensing applications.