Instytut Podstawowych Problemów Techniki

Streszczenie:

Conducting polymers enable the simultaneous transport of electrons and ions within soft, biocompatible matrices. Yet their synthesis typically relies on soluble oxidants that generate stoichiometric waste and inhibit high-resolution patterning. Nanometer-thick gold films deposited by direct-current magnetron sputtering in dilute air function concurrently as a template and intrinsic oxidant—though, owing to their discontinuous structure, not as current collectors—for the reagent-free growth of emeraldine-salt polyaniline (PANI-ES). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that freshly sputtered films contain approximately 60% Au2O3, which is quantitatively reduced by aniline within 60 s. In situ UV–vis spectroscopy records an increase in the 750 nm polaron band that scales linearly with oxide thickness. Polymerization self-terminates once the local Au(III) reservoir is exhausted, yielding patterns precisely registered to the underlying metal mask. The resulting PANI-ES retains the optical, Raman, and electrochemical signatures of the highly conductive emeraldine salt. By replacing soluble oxidants with a solid Au2O3 underlayer, the process avoids sulfate-containing solution-phase by-products and enables aniline-to-PANI conversion at room temperature under ambient air, providing a straightforward route to patterned PANI films without post-growth wet lithography for hole-transport layers, neural microelectrodes, and chemiresistors.

Słowa kluczowe:

bioelectronics, gold oxide nanofilms, polyaniline, reagent-free oxidant polymerization, site-confined growth

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