Polymer nanowire structures

Aligned polymer nanowire structures have been developed using an electrochemical deposition technique to form aligned PAn arrays on smooth and textured electrode substrates without the need for a porous templating structure.248 249 Ori-... 

Figure 14.1 Template-directed synthesis of conducting-polymer nanowires. Nanowires of PPy were synthesised by electropolymerization within an alumina template structure with a gold electrode base (A,B). Nanowires could be further functionalized by the growth of additional species such as nickel and gold (C). (Reprinted with permission from Electroanalysis, Magnetically Assembled Multisegmented Nanowires and Their Applications by M. A. Bangar, C. M. Hangarter, B. Yoo et al., 21, 1, 61-67. Copyright (2009) Wiley-VCH)...

Similar approach has also been taken by Ferain and Legras [133,137,138] and De Pra et al. [139] to produce nanostructured materials based on the template of the membrane with etched pores. Polycarbonate film was also of use as the base membrane of the template, and micro- and nanopores were formed by precise control of the etching procedure. Their most resent report showed the successful formation of ultrasmall pores and electrodeposited materials of which sizes were as much as 20 nm [139]. Another attractive point of these studies is the deposited materials in the etched pores. Electrochemical polymerization of conjugated polymer materials was demonstrated in these studies, and the nanowires based on polypyrrole or polyaniline were formed with a fairly cylindrical shape reflecting the side wall structure of the etched pores. Figure 10 indicates the shape of the polypyrrole microwires with their dimension changes by the limitation of the thickness of the template. 

Abstract Polyferrocenyldimethyl-silane (PFS) diblock copolymers with polyisoprene (PFS-PI) or with polydimethylsiloxane (PFS-PDMS) self-assemble in simple alkane solvents to form what appear by TEM to be dense flexible cylinders (nanowires) or nanotube-like structures. Typical widths are on the order of 20 to 30 nm, with variable lengths often greater than 10 un. The structures that form, and the dimensions of the tube-like structures or wires, depend upon the composition of the polymers and the lengths of the blocks. Light scattering experiments show that the PFS-PDMS (block ratio 1 12) solutions aged... 

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