Polyaniline nanofibers
Encyclopedia
Polyaniline nanofibers are the high aspect version of polyaniline
created by several techniques including nanofiber seeding
, electrochemical synthesis (electrosynthesis
), electrospinning
of composites and several oxidative polymerization methods. Most of these methods required templates that had to be removed, foreign materials that increased cost or otherwise poorly scalable techniques. Nanofibers of polyaniline, unlike conventional micronscale polyaniline particulates characteristically disperse in water and other solvents. Conventional polyaniline is most typically processed through dissolving in one the few true solvents for polyaniline, such as N-methyl pyrrolidinone, and blended with another polymer that is more easily molded by thermal processing methods.
Prof. Jiaxing Huang (currently of Northwestern University
) and Prof. Richard Kaner (University of California, Los Angeles
) pioneered a new method of synthesizing polyaniline nanofibers that had the potential for synthesizing the materials affordably on a large scale. These methods include interfacial polymerization and "rapidly mixing" methods.
The nanofiber syntheses developed at UCLA provide the basis for the developments of Fibron Technologies, which is now supplying dispersions of polyaniline nanofibers among other conducting polymer nanostructures.
Previously commercially available water dispersible polyaniline (and other conducting polymers) required the use of polymeric dopants or other surfactants, which can be used to create nanoparticles through emulsion or surfactant stabilized growth. Companies like Panipol, Ormecon, AGFA and HC Starck supply organic molecule stabilized spherical conducting polymers, but the higher aspect ratio of nanofibers allows less material to be used to achieve percolation threshold. The methods being developed by Fibron Technologies are comparably more environmentally friendly and cost effective than the routes that use surfactants and organic molecule stabilizers during and post synthesis.
Polyaniline
Polyaniline is a conducting polymer of the semi-flexible rod polymer family. Although the compound itself was discovered over 150 years ago, only since the early 1980s has polyaniline captured the intense attention of the scientific community. This is due to the rediscovery of its high electrical...
created by several techniques including nanofiber seeding
Nanofiber seeding
Nanofiber Seeding is the process to control the bulk morphology of chemically synthesized electronic organic polymers.-Description:A new synthetic approach, called nanofiber seeding, was developed to control the bulk morphology of chemically synthesized electronic organic polymers...
, electrochemical synthesis (electrosynthesis
Electrosynthesis
Electrosynthesis in organic chemistry is the synthesis of chemical compounds in a electrochemical cell The main advantage of electrosynthesis over an ordinary redox reaction is avoidance of the potential wasteful other half-reaction and the ability to precisely tune the required potential...
), electrospinning
Electrospinning
Electrospinning uses an electrical charge to draw very fine fibres from a liquid. Electrospinning shares characteristics of both electrospraying and conventional solution dry spinning of fibers. The process does not require the use of coagulation chemistry or high temperatures to produce solid...
of composites and several oxidative polymerization methods. Most of these methods required templates that had to be removed, foreign materials that increased cost or otherwise poorly scalable techniques. Nanofibers of polyaniline, unlike conventional micronscale polyaniline particulates characteristically disperse in water and other solvents. Conventional polyaniline is most typically processed through dissolving in one the few true solvents for polyaniline, such as N-methyl pyrrolidinone, and blended with another polymer that is more easily molded by thermal processing methods.
Prof. Jiaxing Huang (currently of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
) and Prof. Richard Kaner (University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
) pioneered a new method of synthesizing polyaniline nanofibers that had the potential for synthesizing the materials affordably on a large scale. These methods include interfacial polymerization and "rapidly mixing" methods.
The nanofiber syntheses developed at UCLA provide the basis for the developments of Fibron Technologies, which is now supplying dispersions of polyaniline nanofibers among other conducting polymer nanostructures.
Previously commercially available water dispersible polyaniline (and other conducting polymers) required the use of polymeric dopants or other surfactants, which can be used to create nanoparticles through emulsion or surfactant stabilized growth. Companies like Panipol, Ormecon, AGFA and HC Starck supply organic molecule stabilized spherical conducting polymers, but the higher aspect ratio of nanofibers allows less material to be used to achieve percolation threshold. The methods being developed by Fibron Technologies are comparably more environmentally friendly and cost effective than the routes that use surfactants and organic molecule stabilizers during and post synthesis.