Synthesis of polyaniline nanofibers by "nanofiber seeding"

Seeding a conventional chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline with even very small amounts of biological, inorganic, or organic nanofibers (usually <1%) dramatically changes the morphology of the resulting doped electronic polymer polyaniline from nonfibrillar (particulate) to almost exclusively nanofibers. The nanoscale morphology of the original seed template is transcribed almost quantitatively to the bulk precipitate. These findings could have immediate impact in the design and development of high-surface area electronic materials.