Facile fabrication of highly conductive poly (styrene‐co‐methacrylic acid)/ poly(aniline) microspheres based on surface carboxylation modification

Abstract Fabrication of highly conductive poly(styrene)/poly(aniline) (PS/PANI) microspheres has been considerably explored. Improving the adsorption efficiency of aniline on the PS microspheres is still a challenge by facile methods. To overcome this problem, poly(styrene‐co‐methacylic acid) (poly(St‐co‐MAA)) is firstly synthesized for capturing anilinium ions, and then the in‐situ polymerization of aniline is implemented to obtain highly conductive poly(St‐co‐MAA)/PANI microspheres. The prepared poly(St‐co‐MAA) microspheres bearing an average particle size of 238 nm possess a low polymer dispersity index (PDI, 0.082) and high zeta‐potential, which guarantee no agglomeration and deposition of microspheres latex after 30 days at room temperature. After the in‐situ polymerization of aniline, the conductive disc based on poly(St‐co‐MAA)/PANI microspheres presents a superior electrical conductivity of 14.6 S m −1 at an inferior PANI loading of 5.74 vol% and a relatively low electrical percolation threshold (EPT < 0.16 vol%). The results indicate that the carboxylic microspheres for preparing high polymer/PANI microspheres is effective. Meanwhile, poly(St‐co‐MAA)/PANI microspheres show a great potential in manufacture of conductive composites due to their excellent electrical conductivity.