Origin of Bulk Nanoscale Morphology in Conducting Polymers

An experiment was conducted to demonstrate that the surfaces such as the walls of the reaction vessel and/or intentionally added surfaces play a major role in the evolution of nanofibrillar morphology. The study has offered a different mechanism for nanofiber formation compared to classical homogeneous/heterogeneous nucleation based approaches. Conventional polyaniline synthesis in a glass vessel containing a rolled-up sheet of commercial poly(ethylene terepthalate) (PET) was carried out to increase the hydrophobicity of the surface. A significant increase in the reaction rate, and a dramatic morphological change from granules to entirely nanofibers was observed. The study also explored the possibilities to obtain granule under typical conditions set to yield nanofibers including carrying a reaction at 20× dilution in a glass beaker. The researchers have also identified a reaction vessel to unequivocally elucidate the effect of surfaces in nanofiber formation.