A bioinspired strategy for designing well-ordered nanotubular structures by templateless electropolymerization of thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-based monomers

摘要

CRS, 0000-0001-6991-970X; TD, 0000-0003-0150-7412 Here, a bioinspired strategy is used to prepare well-ordered nanotubular structures, as observed in animals and plants, such as gecko toe pads or corals. The nanotubes are obtained by templateless electropolymerization of thieno[3,4-b]thiophenebased monomers with various aromatic groups in an organic solvent (dichloromethane). The most interesting and robust structures were obtained with carbazole and pyrene substituents to the base monomer structure, since these groups participate significantly in the polymerization and also have strong π-stacking interactions. The addition of water to electropolymerization solvent significantly impacted the formation of nanotubes, as it caused the release of a significant amount of H_2 and O_2 bubbles, depending on the electropolymerization method. Identifying templateless approaches to vary nanotubular structures is very interesting, as these materials are sought-after for applications in water harvesting systems.