Abstract
A poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PNVC)–formalin (FO) resin (PNVC‐FO) was prepared via copolycondensation between N‐vinylcarbazole (NVC) and FO in the presence of dry HCl gas in toluene medium at 110°C. A highly conducting composite of PNVC‐FO resin with nanodimensional acetylene black (AB) was prepared by carrying out the polycondensation reaction in presence of a suspension of acetylene black (AB) in toluene. The inclusion of PNVC in the PNVC‐FO‐AB composite was confirmed by FT‐IR analysis. Scanning electron microscopic analyses of PNVC‐FO resin and PNVC‐FO‐AB composite revealed formation of spherical particles and aggregates of irregular shapes respectively. Thermogravimetric analyses revealed the overall stability order as: AB > PNVC‐FO‐AB composite > PNVC‐FO resin > PNVC homopolymer. In sharp contrast to PNVC and PNVC‐FO resin, which were both nonconducting (10^−12^ to 10^−16^ S/cm), the conductivity of the composites reached values between 0.75 S/cm and 6.54 S/cm corresponding to AB loading of 28–49 wt % respectively. Temperature versus conductivity studies revealed an initial increase in conductivity upto 200°C and current–voltage characteristics of the PNVC‐FO‐AB composite showed a linear trend consistent with Ohmic behavior. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 104: 3837–3843, 2007