Premium
Fabricating and Tailoring Polyaniline (PANI) Nanofibers with High Aspect Ratio in a Low‐Acid Environment in a Magnetic Field
Author(s) -
Ma Yong,
Chen Yanhui,
Mei Ang,
Qiao Mingtao,
Hou Chunping,
Zhang Hepeng,
Zhang Qiuyu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – an asian journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.18
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1861-471X
pISSN - 1861-4728
DOI - 10.1002/asia.201500826
Subject(s) - polyaniline , nanofiber , materials science , superparamagnetism , polystyrene , aniline , microsphere , agglomerate , chemical engineering , polyaniline nanofibers , coating , nanotechnology , polymer chemistry , composite material , magnetic field , magnetization , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , polymerization , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
In a 0.010 m HCl solution, we successfully transformed irregular polyaniline (PANI) agglomerates into uniform PANI nanofibers with a diameter of 46–145 nm and a characteristic length on the order of several microns by the addition of superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 microspheres in a magnetic field. The PANI morphological evolution showed that the PANI nanofibers stemmed from the PANI coating shell synthesized on the surface of the Fe 3 O 4 microsphere chains. It was found that the magnetic field could optimize the PANI nanofibers with a narrow diameter size distribution, and effectively suppressed secondary growth. When compared with other microspheres (like silica and polystyrene), only the use of superparamagnetic Fe 3 O 4 microspheres resulted in the appearance of PANI nanofibers. Attempts to form these high‐quality PANI nanofibers in other concentrations of HCl solution were unsuccessful. This deficiency was largely attributed to the inappropriate quantity of aniline cations.