Electrochemical synthesis of microporous polyaniline films using foam templates prepared by ultrasonication

We report a new soft template method for the synthesis of unique polyaniline (PANI) films with microporous structures. In this process, ultrasonication is used to foam an electrolyte solution containing a surfactant, which is subsequently employed as a soft template for PANI growth via the electrochemical polymerization of aniline. Analysis by scanning electron microscopy demonstrates that the resulting PANI films contain numerous micropores. These microporous PANI films exhibit faster charging (doping) and discharging (dedoping) current responses compared to ordinary flat films of the same material.