Coupling of breath figure method with interfacial polymerization: Bottom-surface funttionalized honeycomb-patterned porous films

A new and facile method was designed for the fabrication of asymmetrically polyaniline (PANI) functionalized polystyrene (PS) honeycomb-patterned porous films in a single step. The method involves the coupling of breath figure process with an interfacial polymerization, wherein the PS solution containing benzoyl peroxide in an organic solvent was cast under humid conditions over an aqueous solvent containing aniline and methane sulfonic acid. PANI was coated on the bottom surface at the organic/aqueous interface by an interfacial polymerization method, whereas a porous patterned PS was fabricated on the top surface by the breath figure method. The films revealed a translucent insulating PS top surface and a conducting green PANI bottom surface. The obtained films represented asymmetrical composition, color, morphology, conductivity, and contact angle on either surface. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.