Conductive polymer nanotubes, controlled electrochemical synthesis

Controlled electrochemical synthesis of conductive polymer nanotubes in a porous alumina template has been studied as a function of monomer concentration and potential in the case of PEDOT the electropolymerization leads either to solid nanowires or to hollow nanotubes depending on the template pore diameter, the applied oxidation potential and the monomer concentration [265], Nanowires are formed at slow reaction rate and high concentration monomer supply in fact monomeric molecules should have enough time to diffuse into and fill the pores, from the bulk solution. On the other hand, nanotubes are predominantly formed with fast reaction rate and low monomer concentration, because the monomers that diffuse from the bulk solution can be deposited along the pore wall thanks to the interaction of the polymer with the wall surface. 

For aU the above electrochemical synthetic techniques, the electrolysis time for the synthesis of nanostructured conducting polymers must be controlled, depending on the experimental methods and conditions, as the sizes of the conducting polymers, such as nanoparticles, nanorods, nanofibers, and nanotubes, will continuously grow with time. 

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