Partially ordered porous structures on layer-by-layer polyaniline/poly (vinyl sulfate sodium) ultrathin films: easy fabrication of robust submicroscopic patterning.

Abstract

The use of polyaniline (PANI) as a conductive material has steadily increased in recent years due to its interesting physicochemical properties, low manufacturing cost, and easy processing. This conductive material, associated with the diffraction properties of organized nanostructures in thin films, has excellent application potential in microelectronics and photonic devices. Initially, this work presents improvement routes for the breath figure method (a nanopatterning technique) in polystyrene (PS) films through the control of film deposition parameters and the presence of water in the polymer solution. Such improvements are then extended to the production of PANI nanostructures, in the form of pores, from patterned porous PS films. Consequently, PANI films with a partially ordered pore structure (mean pore diameter of ~100 nm) are produced in a facile and easily scalable method. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 137, 48597.