Nanoscaled polyaniline fibers prepared by ferric chloride as an oxidant

Nanoscaled polyaniline (PANT) fibers with 1730 nm in diameter were successfully prepared by oxidation polymerization using ferric hydrochloride (FeCl3 center dot 6H(2)O) as an oxidant in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA), beta-naphthalenesulfonic acid (beta-NSA), and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) as the dopants. The resulting nanofibers show smaller diameter, higher crystallinity and conductivity (10(-1) S center dot cm(-1)) compared with the nanofibers oxidized by ammonium persulfate (APS), which may be due to the lower oxidation/reduction potential of FeCl3.