The intrinsic nanofibrillar morphology of polyaniline

Jiaxing Huang, Richard B. Kaner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

418 Scopus citations

Abstract

Polyaniline nanofibers are shown to form spontaneously during the chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. The nanofibrillar morphology does not require any template or surfactant, and appears to be intrinsic to polyaniline synthesized in water. Two approaches - interfacial polymerization and rapidly-mixed reactions - have been developed to prepare pure nanofibers. The key is suppressing the secondary growth that leads to agglomerated particles. The effects of different dopant acids and solvents are discussed. Changing the dopant acid can be used to tune the diameters of the nanofibers between about 30 and 120 nm. Changing the organic solvent in interfacial polymerization reactions has little effect on the product. A brief discussion of the processibility of the nanofibers is presented. The possibility of creating nanofibrillar structures for selected polyaniline derivatives is also demonstrated.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)367-376
Number of pages10
JournalChemical Communications
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • General Chemistry
  • Ceramics and Composites
  • Metals and Alloys
  • Materials Chemistry
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Catalysis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The intrinsic nanofibrillar morphology of polyaniline'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this