Electrochemical synthesis of poly(p-phenylene) and poly(p-phenylene)/TiO2 nanowires in an ionic liquid

This study shows for the first time that poly(p-phenylene) (PPP) nanowires can be easily obtained by electrochemical synthesis at room temperature. The method involves the template assisted electropolymerization of benzene in the air and water stable ionic liquid 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate ([HMIm]FAP). Track-etched polycarbonate membranes (PC) with an average pore diameter of 90 nm were used as templates. Dense and highly flexible bundles of PPP nanowires with a high aspect ratio (>160) were easily obtained by this method. In addition, we present here our first results to obtain PPP/TiO2 nanowires by the combination of a sol–gel technique with electropolymerization. HR-SEM, TEM and EDX were used for the structural characterization of the nanowires.

► Poly(p-phenylene) nanowires and core-shell TiO2/Poly(p-phenylene) composite nanowires were synthesized in an ionic liquid.
► The nanowires have diameters of 90 nm.
► The aspect ratio of the nanowires is higher than 100.
► Such composite materials are of interest e.g. in batteries or in catalysis.