Influence of draw ratio on the structure and properties of PEDOT-PSS/PAN composite conductive fibers

Abstract

Composite conductive fibers based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT-PSS) solution blended with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were obtained via wet spinning. The influence of draw ratio on the morphology, structure, thermal degradation, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties of the resulting fibers was investigated by SEM, FTIR, XRD, TG, the four-electrode measuring method and electronic single fiber tensile strength tester. The results revealed that the PEDOT-PSS/PAN composite conductive fibers' crystallization, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties were all improved with the increase of draw ratio. The thermal stability of the fibers was almost independent of draw ratio, and only decreased slightly with draw ratio. Besides, when the draw ratio was 6, the conductivity of the PEDOT-PSS/PAN fibers was 5.0 S cm⁻¹, ten times the conductivity when the draw ratio was 2.