College of Materials Science and Engineering , Southwest Jiaotong University , Chengdu 610031 , China.
Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Department of Materials Science and Engineering , University of Central Florida , Orlando , Florida 32816 , United States.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Oct 31;10(43):37426-37433. doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14071. Epub 2018 Oct 17.
Conductive polymer (CP) nanotubes are fascinating nanostructures with high electrical conductivity, fast charge/discharge capability, and high mechanical strength. Despite these attractive physical properties, progress in the synthesis of CP nanotube hydrogels is still limited. Here, we report a facile and effective approach for the synthesis of polypyrrole (PPy) nanotube hydrogels by using the weakly interconnected network of self-assembled nanotubes of lithocholic acid as a soft template. The PPy nanotube hydrogels are then converted to aerogels by freeze drying, in which PPy nanotubes form elastic and conductive networks with a density of 38 mg/cm and an electrical conductivity of 1.13 S/m. The PPy nanotube aerogels are able to sustain a compressive strain as high as 70% and show an excellent cyclic compressibility due to their robust nanotube networks and hierarchically porous structures, which allow the compressive stress to be easily dissipated. Furthermore, PPy nanotube aerogels show negative strain-dependent electrical resistance changes under compressive strains. The lightweight, elastic, and conductive PPy nanotube aerogels may find potential applications in strain sensors, supercapacitors, and tissue scaffolds.
导电高分子（CP）纳米管是一种具有高导电性、快速充放电能力和高机械强度的迷人纳米结构。尽管具有这些吸引人的物理性质，但 CP 纳米管水凝胶的合成进展仍然有限。在这里，我们报告了一种通过使用胆酸自组装纳米管的弱互连网络作为软模板来合成聚吡咯（PPy）纳米管水凝胶的简便有效的方法。然后，通过冷冻干燥将 PPy 纳米管水凝胶转化为气凝胶，其中 PPy 纳米管形成具有 38mg/cm 密度和 1.13S/m 电导率的弹性和导电网络。PPy 纳米管气凝胶能够承受高达 70%的压缩应变，并表现出优异的循环压缩性，这是由于其坚固的纳米管网络和分级多孔结构，允许压缩应力轻松消散。此外，PPy 纳米管气凝胶在压缩应变下表现出负应变相关的电阻变化。这种重量轻、弹性好、导电性强的 PPy 纳米管气凝胶可能在应变传感器、超级电容器和组织支架中有潜在的应用。
