Fabrication of CuTAPc polymer nanowires and nanotubes by electropolymerization

Poly-copper tetraaminophthalocyanine (CuTAPc) nanowires and nanotubes were successfully fabricated on porous alumina templates by electropolymerization and characterized using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman microscopy. The lengths of these nanostructures could be controlled by the number of cycles applied and the monomer concentrations, while their diameters are confined by the pore size of the template. The product of electropolymerization (whether as nanowires or nanotubes) is a function of the monomer concentrations. The morphology of electropolymerized nanowires was found to be sensitive to the changes in scan rates and monomer concentrations. These organometallic nanostructures may have applications in micro-electronics, chemical sensing, and catalysis.