Alignment control of polythiophene chains with mesostructured silica nanofibers having different pore orientations

Alignment control of polythiophene chains with mesostructured silica nanofibers through an organic-inorganic co-assembly approach is realized. Cationic ammonium surfactants with a polymerizable thiophene end group are synthesized and subsequently used as structure-directing agents to grow silica nanofibers with two different pore architectures. In situ polymerization produces mesostructured polythiophene-silica nanofibers with the polymer chains aligned along the pore channels.