Nanostructured conducting polymers electrospinning

A simple method was recently introduced for preparing core-shell nanostructured conductive PPy composite [45]. The PPy core particles were first introduced in flexible shell solutions by in situ polymerization, and then different core-shell structures could be obtained by the electrospinning method (Figure 4.12). In that study, PPy was selected as the as-dispersed phase (cores) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as the continuous phase (shell) the morphology of the resulted nanostructures can be controlled by changing the concentration of the solutions. This method is very useful in the design and preparation of nanosized core-shell structures using electroconductive polymers. 

There are various methods to synthesize polymer nanostructures, i.e., template synthesis, chiral reactions, self-assembly, interfacial polymerization and electrospinning. Recent developments in conducting polymer nanotubes and nanofibers were summarized by Long et al. Different preparation methods, physical properties, and potential applications of one-dimensional nanostructures of conjugated polyaniline (PANI), pol5 3nrole (PPy) and poly (3, 4-ethylenediox3d hiophene) (PEDOT) were discussed. 

FIGURE 7.4 Schematic drawing illustrating the electrospinning process to make conducting polymer nanostructures. Typically, a potential of several thousand volts is applied to overcome the surface tension. 

Figure 17.2 Schematic illustration of common methods, such as hard-template, and soft-template methods as well as electrospinning technology, for the preparation of conducting polymer nanostructures.

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