Electrospun Nanofibers from Other Conductive Polymers

5 Electrospun Nanofibers from Other Conductive Polymers 

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The requirements of the support material for electrodes, such as high electronic conductivity, large specific surface area, and excellent electrochemical and chemical stability, are crucial for both the performance and durability of fuel cells. In addition, the metallic catalyst loading should be reduced due to the high cost of catalyst materials. The dispersion and size distribution of catalyst nanoparticles are optimized for maximum exploitation and rapid kinetics, which provide a way to decrease the metal loading. Table 2.2 summarizes electrospun nanofibers from carbon and other materials such as Ti02 [24, 33] and conducting polymers [38, 39] as the supports for electrode catalysts in different fuel cells. 

Nanofibers of conducting polymers such as those spun from polyaniline (PANi) are particularly well suited for use in conductivity sensors. Polymers commonly explored in sensor research include PANi, polythiophene (PT), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), and polypyrrol (PPy), sometimes with other constituents, to enhance their sensing capability. Some of these such as PANi (Norris et al. 2000 Zhu et al. 2006a) and PPy (Kang et al. 2005 Nair et al. 2005) (as well as their hlends), can be readily electrospun into nanofibers. Polyaniline is somewhat unique in that its doped state can be controlled by the pH of the medium, allowing it to exist either as the emaraldine base or as the salt (Scheme 8.1). Simple acids and... 

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