Electrospinning and alignment of polyaniline-based nanowires and nanotubes

Polyaniline (PANT) nanowires and nanotubes are processed by electrospinning. Nanowires are electrospinned using PANi/PEO and PANi/PMMA polymer blends. The morphology and composition of these nanofibers are determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Nano-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (Nano-SIMS). The conductive polymer seems more homogeneously distributed for the PANi/PEO than for the PANi/PMMA blend nanowires, which exhibit a phase separation. On the other hand, pure PANT nanotubes are prepared using PMMA nanowires as a template. The synthesis is followed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), SEM and Nano-SIMS. Moreover, a simple method based on electrostatic steering allows us to align these fibers on a substrate.