Facile synthesis of high-quality ultralong poly(aniline-co-p- phenylenediamine) nanofibers

High-quality ultralong poly(aniline-co-p-phenylenediamine) nanofibers have been synthesized successfully by one-step chemical copolymerization of aniline and p-phenylenediamine using ammonium peroxydisulfate as the oxidant in aqueous solution. The addition of p-phenylenediamine in conventional polymerization system plays an important role in changing the bulk morphologies of polyaniline from irregular particle agglomerates to nanofibers. This process is rapid, facile, and free of any template and surfactant. The influences of synthetic parameters, such as the molar ratios of aniline and p-phenylenediamine, the molar ratios of monomer and ammonium peroxydisulfate, and the concentrations of HCl, on the morphologies and molecular structures of the resulting products have been investigated for elucidating the formation mechanism of poly(aniline-co-p-phenylenediamine) nanofibers.