Formation and comparison of polyaniline microfibers by bi-phase volume asymmetrical interfacial polymerization

Polyaniline (PANI) microfibers were prepared by an unusual interfacial synthesis method. Experimentally, the ANI formed aqueous phase (AP) was placed at the top, and the poly( l -lactide) (PLLA) formed oil phase (OP) was placed at the bottom, while the volume of these two phases was varied by taking the ratio of AP/OP at 2/1 and 1/2, respectively. FESEM images showed that the phase volume variety-based two synthesis processes both can form rectangular PANI microfibers while a comparison found that the AP/OP at 2/1 formed microfibers with smaller diameter and longer length than that of the AP/OP at 1/2 formed samples. This suggested that the increase of the AP volume would benefit the interfacial polymerized PANI with better size.