c92-8 Production and Characterization of Textile Fibers Made from Intrinsically Conductive Polymers

The development of a conductive fiber produced from an inherently conductive polymer (ICP) polyaniline (PANI) was accomplished during this the third year of our National Textile Center funding. This goal accomplished the stated mission of the research effort. The fiber produced has tensile properties approaching that of nylon 6 and a conductivity of around 350 S/cm. This achievement has led to worldwide recognition of our research efforts and has resulted in our being invited to several national and international conferences to present our work. Notable among these was the “International Conference on the Science and Technology of Synthetic Metals” ICSM 94 in Seoul Korea in July of 94 and the Symposia on Conductive and Conjugated Organic Solid State Polymers at the 201“ national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego in April of 94. We have also published six papers over the course of this year with regard to the production and characterization of conductive polymers. The research into these unique materials is continuing and technology transfer to interested industries is underway. Present industrial contacts include Hoechst Celanese, Granitville, Monsanto Fibers, Allied Signal, Milliken & Co., Walter Reed Army Hospital, Shaw Carpets, and several other fiber and textile producers. At the present time seven graduate students are pursuing degrees in the area of conductive polymers and fibers and two degrees (one M.S.& one Ph.D) have been awarded resulting from this area of work. As a direct result of the NTC effort collaborative efforts have been established with faculty from Ga. Tech, N.C. State, and other major universities around the country not associated directly with textiles and fiber science and engineering. Recently in recognition of our contributions our research group has been asked to contribute to the new addition of “The Handbook of Conductive Polymers”. The fast edition is one of the most cited references in the area of solid state organic and magnetic polymers and the second edition will be even more extensively quoted and contain our contribution on ICP fibers.