Preparation of hollow polyaniline nanofibers by in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of electrospun polyacrylonitrile mat

By in situ polymerization of aniline using electrospun PAN mat as a hard template, core/shell structured PAN/PANI nanofibers were fabricated. Gained mat was immersed in N,N-Dimethylformamide(DMF) for the removal of PAN as inner layer(core). By washing the mat with ethanol and water, hollow fibers of PANI were produced. The accuracy of the removal step was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR). The existence of hollow PANI nanofibers was proved via scanning electron microscopy.

Keywords:

PANI , PAN , Nanofiber , Electrospinning , Core-shell