Effect of Conductive Fillers on the Electrical Conductivity and Mechanical Properties of Polyurethane Composites

Conducting polymers have attracted considerable interest due to their potential applications in biosensors, drug delivery systems, biomedical implants and tissue engineering. In biomedical applications, conventional conductive polymers, such as polypyrole and polyaniline, have limitations due to poor solubility (polyaniline) and biocompatibility (polypyrrole) as well as processability. The aim of this study is to develop a new family of conductive polymer composites through the addition of conductive fillers into the bulk polyurethane (PU, Elast-Eon Tm). These PUs are a thermoplastic elastomers which behave as electrical insulators, they have been studied extensively for biomedical applications because of their good biocompatibility, biostability, excellent processability and good mechanical properties.