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Polyaniline(PANI) microwires and microspheres containing Au nanoparticles were prepared using different organic acid as dopant by an in-situ polymerization method. When L-CSA was used to synthesize PANI/Au composite, microwires were obtained. While by introducing hydrogen bonding and/or electrostatic interactions between mercaptocarboxylic acid capped Au nanoparticles and aniline molecules, microspheres were synthesized. SEM and TEM indicated that the diameter of the microwires was about 200 nm and the diameter of the microspheres was between 1 μm and 3 μm. FTIR and XRD characterized the structure of the PANI/Au composite microwires and microspheres.

With an average diameter of 300-500 nm, conducting microspheres of polyaniline (PANI) were synthesized successfully by a self-assembly method in the presence of ferrocene sulfonic acid (FcSO3H) as the dopant, and ammonium persulfate ((NH4)2S2O8) as the oxidant. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) proved that the microspheres of PANI- FcSO3H synthesized by a self-assembly process were hollow ones. And the backbone structure of obtained PANI- FcSO3H was characterized by FTIR spectrum. The effect of synthetic conditions, such as the molar ratio of FcSO3H to aniline (An) and the reaction temperature, on the morphology and size was also investigated.