Controlled Synthesis of Polyaniline-Based Nanomaterials with Self-Assembly and Interface Manipulation.

Versatile nanostructures of conducting polymers are highly relevant based on unique properties, including electrical, optical, and thermal, with changes in morphology. This contribution reports a facile and reproducible synthesis approach for the design of conducting polymer nanostructures from zero- to three-dimensional composites. Two polymerization steps, namely, self-assembly-directed and interface thin layer-templated polymerizations in this synthesis, were kinetically controlled to fabricate such nanostructures directly. The uniquely designed bicontinuous nanoreactor offers an easy synthesis technique for fabricating 3D multifunctional conducting polymer composites. Self-assembly-directed polymerization could be controlled to form nanorods and further directed to form nanobowl/hollow spherical structures. The interface thin layer template process was tuned to produce hollow spherical and 2D film nanostructures. Kinetic control of polymerization was able to provide access to unprecedented nanostructures of the conducting polymers ranging from DNA origami to gecko-inspired nanostructures, with potential applications in drug delivery, energy storage, and adhesive materials. For example, this is the first conducting polymer material that can demonstrate similar adhesiveness (around 8 N/cm2) to gecko finger hairs.

Strategic Synthesis of 2D and 3D Conducting Polymers and Derived Nanocomposites.

In recent decades, there has been a great deal of interest in conducting polymers due to their broad applications. At the same time, various synthetic techniques have been developed to produce various nanostructures of the conducting polymers with their fascinating properties. However, the techniques for the manufacture of 2D nanosheets are either complex or expensive. No comprehensive approach for constructing 2D and 3D materials or their composites has been documented. Herein, a simple and scalable synthetic protocol is reported for the design of 2D, 3D, and related conducting polymer nanocomposites by interface manipulation in a bicontinuous microemulsion system. In this method, diverse bicontinuous thin layers of oil and water are employed to produce 2D nanosheets of conducting polymers. For the fabrication of 3D polypyrrole (PPY) and their composites, specially designed linkers of the monomers are applied to lock the 3D networks of the conducting polymers and their composites. The technique can be extended to the fabrication of most conducting polymer composites, being cost-effective and easily scalable. The optimum electrical conductivity obtained for 2D PPY nanosheets is 219 S cm-1 , the highest literature value reported to date to the best of knowledge.