Structure and electrical properties of polyaniline-based copper chloride or copper bromide coatings deposited via low-energy electron beam

Thin conductive nanostructured polyaniline coatings were formed by the solvent-free plasma-chemical method. Non-conductive form of an emeraldine base and crystalline hydrate of dichloride or copper dibromide were used as a target. The structure and electrophysical properties of the formed coatings were studied by spectroscopic and microscopic methods. It was demonstrated that the layers represent a polymer matrix with various degree of oxidation doped by chloride or copper bromide compounds. When mixtures of an emeraldine base and copper bromide are jointly dispersed, the formation of layers with relative concentration of its oxidized chains by more than three times bigger than the layers formed by dispersion of the emeraldine base and copper chloride is observed. The proposed method allows the deposition of thin composite PANI-based coatings which have conductivity up to 10 S/cm, adjustable degree of oxidation and a molecular structure of polyaniline chains.