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An alternating copolymer, electroactive azo polyamide was prepared by oxidative coupling polymerization of oligoaniline macromonomer and p-phenylenediamine. The molecular structure of the polyamide was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT/IR) spectra, 1 H NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis (EA) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). UV-vis spectrum was used to monitor the chemical oxidation process and the photoisomerization of the polymer. The electrochemical activity of the polyamide was checked by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the mechanism of electrochemical oxidation process was well studied. Moreover, the thermal characteristics of the polyamide were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).

Functional multi-layers containing polyaniline (PANI) /gold nanoparticles have been successfully decorated on the substrate of polystyrene (PS) latex spheres via layer-by-layer method. Gold nanoparticles were assembled on the surface of PS latex spheres via their consecutive electrostatic adsorption from solution, followed by the formation of polyaniline layer to obtain the PS-cores/ conductive polymer and Au-shells multi-layer spheres. FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the growth of gold nanoparticles and PANI layer on the PS colloidal particles.

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.

Here, we demonstrated a novel method to decorate Cu9S5 nanocrystals on polyaniline (PANI) nanowires using the dopant of mercaptoacetic acid (MAA) in the PANI matrix as the sulfur source under a hydrothermal reaction. TEM images showed that Cu9S5 nanocrystals with a size in the range of 5–20 nm were uniformly formed on the surface of PANI nanowires. Significantly, the as-prepared PANI/Cu9S5 composite nanowires have been proven to be novel peroxidase mimics toward the oxidation of the peroxidase substrate 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) in the presence of H2O2. Due to the synergetic effects between polyaniline nanowires and Cu9S5 nanocrystals, the obtained PANI/Cu9S5 composite nanowires exhibit superior catalytic activity over the independent components. This work not only presents a simple and versatile method to decorate semiconductor nanocrystals on the surface of conducting polymer nanostructures, but also provides fundamental guidelines for further investigations into the synergetic effect between conducting polymers and other materials.