Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the most extensively studied conducting polymers because of its simple synthesis [1] and doping/dedoping chemistry [2], low cost, high conductivity, and excellent environmental stability. PANI has a wide applicability in rechargeable batteries [3], erasable optical information storage [4], shielding of electromagnetic interference [5], microwave-and radar-absorbing materials [6], sensors [7], indicators [8], catalysts [9], electronic and bioelectronic components [10], membranes [11], electrochemical capacitors [12], electrochromic devices [13], nonlinear optical [14] and light-emitting devices [15], electromechanical actuators [16], antistatic [17] and anticorrosion coatings [18]. Its electromagnetic and optical properties depend mostly on its oxidation state and degree of protonation [19]. The green emeraldine salt form of PANI is conducting ($1-10 S cm À1 for granular powders) [1]. It contains, depending on the synthetic route, variousunits (in the preceeding formulae B, Q and A À denote a benzenoid ring, quinonoid ring and dopant anion, respectively). The blue emer-The preparation of bulk quantities of conducting granular PANI is usually performed
Nanostructured Conductive PolymersEdited by Ali Eftekhari by the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) in an acidic aqueous solution (initial pH < 2.0) [1]. Colloidal PANI nanoparticles are prepared by dispersion polymerization of aniline in the presence of various colloidal stabilizers [20,21]. The average size of colloidal PANI nanoparticles decreases with increasing stabilizer/aniline ratio. PANI colloids often have nonspherical (rice grain, needle-like, etc.) core-shell morphology. The colloidal nanoparticle core most likely has a composite nature, i.e. it is composed of both the PANI and the incorporated stabilizer, while the shell is formed by the stabilizer. Nowadays, conducting PANI nanostructures are the focus of intense research owing to their significantly enhanced dispersibility and processability, and substantially improved performance in many applications, in comparison with granular and colloidal PANI [22][23][24][25][26][27]. The continuously growing interest in the study of zero-dimensional (0-D) (solid nanospheres), one-dimensional (1-D) (nanofibers (nanowires), nanorods (nanosticks), nanoneedles, rice-like nanostructures, nanotubes), two-dimensional (2-D) (nanoribbons (nanobelts), nanosheets (nanoplates, nanoflakes, nanodisks, leaf-like nanostructures), nanorings (cyclic nanostructures), net-like nanostructures), and three-dimensional (3-D) PANI nanostructures (hollow nanospheres, dendritic and polyhedral nanoparticles, flower-like, rhizoid-like, brain-like, urchin-like, and star-like nanostructures, etc.) has dramatically increased in recent years (Figure 2.1). The major focus of research has been the preparation, characterization, processing, and application of PANI nanofibers (PANI-NFs) and nanotubes (PANI-NTs). PANI-NFs are 1-D PANI nanoobjects of cylindrical profile with diameters ...