Synthesis by Potentiostat

Kan s researeh group also investigated the effect of alcohols on the electrochemical polymerization of aniline at a constant potential of 0.8 V (vs. SCE) [61]. They found that the presence of alcohols favors formation of nanofibers. This is attributed to hydrogen bonding between alcohols and polyaniline chains, which results in the polymer chains being pushed apart [62]. 

Polypyrrole nanotubes synthesized at a constant potential using the pores of nanoporous polycarbonate (PC) particle track-etched membranes as a template [63,64] and polypyrrole nanowires synthesized at a constant potential of 0.9 V (vs. SCE) using nanochannels of proton-modified natural zeolite clinoptilolite [65] have been reported. Their electrochemical properties were improved compared to the conventional polypyrrole. 

Xiao et al. investigated the electrochemical synthetic mechanism of conducting-polymer nanotubes in a porous alumina template using poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophaie) (PEDOT) as a model compound [70]. The electrochemical polymerization of EDOT was performed potentiostatically at various potentials from 1.0 to 1.8 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in a solution containing EDOT, LiC104, and acetonitrile. They found that the tubular portion of the nanotube structure increased as the applied potential increased from 1.4 to 1.8 V at a fixed concentration of EDOT, while the tubular portion decreased with increasing monomer concentration from 10 to 100 mM at a fixed poteitial of 1.6 V. 

The synthesis of polypyrrole-heparin nanotubes was performed at a constant potential of 0.8 V (vs. SCE), using a nanoporous membrane as a template [71]. Heparin, which is a bioactive polyelectrolyte, was used as the doping anion. The use of a bioactive doping compound, which provides interesting biological properties in the composite sample, allows the fabrication of functionalized surfaces able to promote direct electronic communication between biological species and substrates. This result also confirmed that the 

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