Nanoscaled polyaniline fibers prepared by ferric chloride as an oxidant

Abstract

Nanoscaled polyaniline (PANI) fibers with 17-30 nm in diameter were successfully prepared by oxidation polymerization using ferric hydrochloride (FeCl3. 6H2O) as an oxidant in the presence of p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TSA), β-naphthalenesulfonic acid (β-NSA), and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) as the dopants. The resulting nanofibers show smaller diameter, higher crystallinity and conductivity (10-1 S.cm-1) compared with the nanofibers oxidized by ammonium persulfate (APS), which may be due to the lower oxidation/reduction potential of FeCl 3. © 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.