Recent developments in the area of textiles to make fabrics more functional have led to synthesizing “intelligent fabrics.” This can be achieved by making the fabrics electrically conducting. In the present study it is reported that the cotton fabrics, when impregnated with polypyrrole, achieve enhanced level of conduction. The method of diffusion of pyrrole, followed by polymerization using iron chloride as oxidant, was used. The different levels of conduction were achieved by varying the contents of monomer in the bath from 0.01 to 0.1M during the synthesis. The conductivity could be enhanced from the initial value of 10−12 to 101 S/cm. It is shown that when a fixed voltage is applied to such a modified piece of cloth, the heat generated is up to 1000 W/m2 depending on the percentage of pyrrole present. Such fabrics can be used as heating pads and integrated into the apparel to keep the wearer warm enough using a portable 9.0‐V battery. Being flexible and breathable, such fabrics have better comfort properties (compared with conventional heating pads). It can find applications in dresses for army personnel and old‐age patients. Such conductive fabrics can also find applications in many areas such as electromagnetic interference shielding, gas sensors, and temperature indicators. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 4690–4695, 2006

Polypyrrole (Ppy) was synthesized using Ammonium Peroxy Disulfate (APS) as oxidant in a standard ratio of monomer to oxidants at 5℃. Attempts were made to increase the electrical conductivity by using various dopants viz. Lithium per Chlorate (LiClO₄), para-Toluene Sulfonate (p-TS) and Napthalene Sulfonic acid (NSA). The materials were characterized using FTIR, X Ray diffraction and SEM. The electrical conductivity was measured by two probe method and was found to be in the range of 10^-3 S/cm. Thin films of these preparations were casted on the interdigited electrodes to study the detection of gas such as ammonia. It was found that for the pure Ppy when ammonia gas was allowed to flow in, there was a sudden increase in the current, which decreased rapidly when gas was stopped. However when Ppy doped with p-TS, NSA and LiClO₄, the trend was reversed

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films containing two different concentrations of polyaniline were prepared by solution casting technique. These films were irradiated with gamma radiation for various doses. Structural and morphological studies of control PVA as well as PVA/ PANi composite films were carried out before and after the gamma radiation. Polyaniline is one of the interesting conducting polymers and has the property of changing its color and conductivity when switched between different oxidation states. This unique property of polyaniline was monitored by investigating UV/vis absorption spectra and changes in electrical conductivity. The changes observed could be correlated to the total dose received by the films. It is therefore proposed that PVA/PANi composite films can be used for fabricating radiation dosimeters.