The major component of the volatiles in this step seems
to be water molecules. The next step of weight loss in the range
of 140–260 _C is observed only in the PANI(DBSA)/PVA
blend films. This degradation step may be attributed to the
short polymer or oligomer degradation produced during the
polymerisation process (Pan et al., 2010; Babazadeh, 2009;
Castillo-Castro et al., 2007). This peak temperature presented
in Table 4 has an increasing trend with increases in PANI concentration.
This is because with the increase in aniline concentration,
the production of oligomer also increases. The next
weight loss step for pure PANI and its blend films is found
in the range 180–380 _C, which is caused by the degradation
of Coulomb attraction between the sulphonic acid and PANI
backbone (NH+_ _ _SO_3 interaction between the PANI chain
and DBSA dopant), because the acid itself begins to evaporate
and degrade (Hosseini and Entezami, 2001).