Fabrication of Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Nanotubes and Their Chem/Biosensor Applications

Abstract

There has been remarkable progress in the development of one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials, such as nanorods, nanofibers, and nanotubes. In general, 1D nanomaterials show superior electronic, magnetic, optical, and mechanical properties as compared with their bulk counterparts. Therefore, these materials are extremely attractive as essential building blocks for unprecedented applications in the fields of electronics, optics, energy conversion and storage, and medical science. This dissertation describes the facile fabrication of 1D conducting polymer nanomaterials using an electrospinning or hard template approach. A hard template, namely an anodic alumina oxide (AAO) has been employed in order to fabricate 1D poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanomaterials with silver nanoparticles. This approach does not require an atypical temperature and pressure, and the simple process offered a great possibility to produce 1D nanomaterials in large quantities. In addition, it was possible to control the morphology of 1D nanomaterials by changing synthetic variables, such as the amounts of surfactant and oxidizing agent, kind of solvent, and polymerization temperature. In addition, silver nanoparticles decorated 1D conducting polymer nanomaterials with well-controlled size and shape created a meaningful opportunity to study the size- and shape-dependence of oxidation level in nanomaterials. As the population of silver nanoparticles with the 1D conducting nanomaterials increases, they showed more enhanced conductivity and surface area properties. Accordingly, judicious tailoring of the dimensional and geometrical characteristics of the conducting polymer nanomaterials is expected to enable precise control over their transport properties as well as the characteristics of the nanomaterial-based devices. The 1D conducting polymer nanomaterials have been successfully utilized in the detection of toxic gases and alcohol vapors, and the biological toxic materials. As a result, the ability to generate 1D conducting polymer nanomaterials with inorganic nanomaterials has offered meaningful opportunities for versatile applications.