Electrochemical fabrication of aligned microtubular heterojunctions of poly(p-phenylene) and polythiophene

Abstract

Aligned microtubular heterojunctions of poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) and polythiophene (PTh) were fabricated by successive electrochemical oxidations of benzene and thiophene in freshly distilled boron trifluoride–diethyl ether (BFEE) solution and using a microporous alumina membrane with pores of 200 nm diameter as the template. The morphology and chain structure of the microtubular heterojunctions were studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopies and Raman spectroscopy. The current (I)–voltage (V) curves revealed that the aligned microtubular heterojunctions had a better rectification effect than that of the normal PPP/PTh bilayer heterojunction.