A soft template approach to various porous nanostructures from conjugated carbazole-based monomers

Hypothesis: Controlling the size and the shape of nanostructures on surfaces is fundamental for various applications while the formation of porous structures such as nanotubes is particularly difficult. The templateless electropolymerization is a choice process that not only forms nanostructured surfaces, but also can tune their morphologies using different monomers. Experiments: In this work, we used this soft-template and surfactant free electropolymerization in organic solvent to deposit for the first time carbazole-based monomers. Five different conjugated carbazole-based monomers are tested here. Findings: We show that the shape of surfaces nanostructures is highly dependent on the amount of water present in the organic solvent and on the molecular structure of the carbazole monomers. Different morphologies are obtained from fibers to vertically aligned nanotubes and even porous membranes, depending on the monomer and on the electropolymerization method. The nanostructured surfaces reach superhydrophobic properties and their dynamical non-wetting behavior varies with the monomer and the electrochemical parameters. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The research explores the importance of controlling the size and shape of nanostructures on surfaces, as well as the formation of nanostructured surfaces using templateless electropolymerization. Experimental results demonstrate that the amount of water and the molecular structure of the carbazole monomers play crucial roles in determining the shape of nanostructures on surfaces, leading to a variety of morphologies.