One step preparation of polyaniline micro/nanohierarchical structures with superhydrophobicity

Polyaniline with a leaf-like hierarchical structure of 3 μm in length, 2 μm in width, 100 nm in thickness and crisscrossed nanofibers decorated on the surface, was successfully prepared in one step polymerization of aniline in the presence of sodium heptafluorobutyrate. The synthesized polyaniline shows superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 151° due to the combination of the low surface tension of fluorinated chain and the rough micro/nanostructure. Chemical structure and composition of the resultant PANI were characterized by FTIR, UV–vis, XRD and XPS. The formation mechanism of the hierarchical structure was investigated by monitoring the morphology development with the polymerization time. This method is facile and applicable for the large scale fabrication. Many potential applications can be expected based on the superhydrophobic PANI micro/nanostructures.

► Leaf-like PANI was prepared by using sodium heptafluorobutyrate.
► Leaf-like PANI exhibits good superhydrophobic property.
► The good superhydrophobicity of PANI is due to its hierarchical structure and the low surface tension.