Superhydrophobic conducting polyaniline prepared via interfacial polymerization

Three-dimensional(3D) micro/nanostructures of polyaniline(PANI) were self-assembled by template-free method combined with interfacial polymerization in the presence of perfluorosebacic acid(PFSEA) as dopant. The 3D micro/nanostructures of PANI show both electrical conductivity and superhydrophobicity. It was proposed that the aniline filled bi-layer micelles composed of PFSEA/An salt were served as the soft-templates of the self-assembled nanofibers, then those nanofibers were self-assembled to form 3D-microstructures by the intermolecular interactions including hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction as the driving forces. Moreover, their morphology and size can be controlled by changing the concentration and the molar ratio of aniline and oxidant. The method is a facile approach to prepare conducting polymer 3D architectures assembled by 1D-nanostructure.