Affiliation:
1. College of Materials College of Physical Science and Technology MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramic Fibers Xiamen University Xiamen 361005 P. R. China
2. Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM) Xiamen 361005 P. R. China
3. State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials Zhejiang University Hangzhou 310027 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractManeuver of conducting polymers (CPs) into lightweight hydrogels can improve their functional performances in energy devices, chemical sensing, pollutant removal, drug delivery, etc. Current approaches for the manipulation of CP hydrogels are limited, and they are mostly accompanied by harsh conditions, tedious processing, compositing with other constituents, or using unusual chemicals. Herein, a two‐step route is introduced for the controllable fabrication of CP hydrogels in ambient conditions, where gelation of the shape‐anisotropic nano‐oxidants followed by in‐situ oxidative polymerization leads to the formation of polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole hydrogels. The method is readily coupled with different approaches for materials processing of PANI hydrogels into varied shapes, including spherical beads, continuous wires, patterned films, and free‐standing objects. In comparison with their bulky counterparts, lightweight PANI items exhibit improved properties when those with specific shapes are used as electrodes for supercapacitors, gas sensors, or dye adsorbents. The current study therefore provides a general and controllable approach for the implementation of CP into hydrogels of varied external shapes, which can pave the way for the integration of lightweight CP structures with emerging functional devices.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
National Key Research and Development Program of China
Subject
Biomaterials,Biotechnology,General Materials Science,General Chemistry