A novel density-controlled growth of vertical polyaniline nanowire arrays using diblock copolymer as a template

摘要

We develop a novel and simple method for controlling the density and size of polyaniline (PANI) nanowires vertically grown on silicon substrate. The method is based on employing poly(styrene-block-4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) nanoporous array on Mn2O3 seed layer as template. The nanoporous template with Mn2O3 seed at the bottom of each nanopore could be achieved by PS-b-P4VP self-assemble on Mn2O3 seed layer and reconstruction in 1 wt% HF methanol solution. Furthermore, PANI nanoparticles could be generated in each nanopore by oxidizing aniline with Mn2O3 seed at the bottom of nanopores. The PANI nanoparticles further grew to nanowires when ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) was added to the reaction solution. Interestingly, the distance, arrangement and diameter of PANI nanowires were confined by the nanopores. Therefore, density- and size-controlled PANI nanowire arrays with vertical orientation were obtained. The techniques have significant potential application in nanoelectronic devices.