Fabrication of mesoporous silica/PANI composite nanofibers from anodic alumina oxide (AAO) membranes

Mesoporous silica/polyaniline (PANI) composite nanofibers with a full interpenetrating structure were synthesized via a controlled sol-gel process and in situ polymerization route from anodic alumina oxide (AAO) membranes. In the synthetic process, AAO membranes act as a template for the preparation of PANI/silica composite fibers. After removal of the AAO templates by hydrochloric acid (HCl) dissolution, the as-prepared mesoporous silica/PANI composite fibers possess a uniform fiber morphology and full interpenetrating structure, resulting in a continuous conductive PANI network with high porosity and large specific surface area. SEM images of mesoporous silica/PANI composite fibers shows that the diameter of the silica fibers has not been changed before and after PANI deposition, proving that PANI is well filled in the channel. The nitrogen (N2) absorption/desorption experiments suggest that the average pore size and the surface area of silica/PANI composite fibers are 5.7 nm and 147 m2/g respectively. The profile of isotherms is similar to that of blank silica nanofibers with lower adsorption capacity and relative pressure, which demonstrates that aniline can polymerize in the pore channel. The results of four-probe method show that the conductivity of the mesoporous silica/PANI composite fibers is 2.6 x 10-4 S/cm. This synthetic strategy is also suitable for fabricating various nanostructured composite nanofibers of PANI and other inorganic materials.

Automated summary

Mesoporous silica/polyaniline composite nanofibers with a full interpenetrating structure were synthesized, possessing high porosity and large specific surface area.