Synthesis and characterization of polythiophene and poly (3-methylthiophene) nanotubes and nanowires

We synthesized nanotubes and nanowires of pi-conjugated polythiophene (PT) and poly (3-methylthiophene) (P3MT) by using nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (Al2O3) template through electrochemical polymerization method. From SEM and TEM photographs, we observed the formation of nanotubes with diameters of 100 similar to 200 nm and wall thicknesses of 5 similar to 10 nm. The length of PT and P3MT nanotubes and nanowires was up to similar to 40 mu m. To discern the structural and optical properties of the systems, we measured UV/Vis absorbance and FT-IR spectra. We observed that the doping level, the pi-pi* transition peak, and bipolaron peaks in P3MT nanotubes varied with synthetic temperature. Based on measured I-V characteristic curves with gate bias for a single strand of PT nanotube, the systems should be considered to exhibit p-type nature.