Core-shell and segmented polymer-metal composite nanostructures

Composite nanostructures (similar to 200 nm wide and several micrometers long) of metal and polyaniline (PANI) in two new variations of core-shell (PANI-Au) and segmented (Au-PANI and Ni-Au-PANI) architectures were fabricated electrochemically within anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes. Control over the structure of these composites ( including the length of the gold shells in the core-shell structures) was accomplished by adjusting the time and rate of electrodeposition and the pH of the solution from which the materials were grown. Exposure of the core shell structures to oxygen plasma removed the PANI and yielded aligned gold nanotubes. In the segmented structures, a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of thioaniline nucleated the growth of PANI on top of metal nanorods and acted as an adhesion layer between the metal and PANI components.