Preparation of Polyaniline Nanofibers by High Gravity Chemical Oxidative Polymerization

Abstract

To develop a suitable method for the mass production of polyaniline (PANI) nanofibers, the preparation of PANI nanofibers was carried out by high gravity chemical oxidative polymerization (HGCOP) in a rotating packed bed (RPB) for the first time. The influences of operating conditions, e.g., aniline concentration, high-gravity level, reaction temperature, and dopants, on the morphology of PANI nanofibers were investigated in detail. FTIR, UV−vis, XRD, molecular weight, and conductivity analyses were performed to characterize the products. Advantages of this new method are discussed. PANI nanofibers were successfully obtained in a wide range of aniline concentration (0.1−0.5 M) and reaction temperature (0−60 °C). The nanofibers kept small diameters of 30−50 nm and uniform morphology even when synthesized with a high initial aniline concentration of 0.5 M. This method provides a significant improvement to the rapid mixing route to prepare PANI nanofibers in large scale, moreover, it has potential applications in the synthesis of other conductive polymers.