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Flash welding of conducting polymer nanofibres

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 783–786 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The absorption of light by a material generates heat through non-radiative energy dissipation and exothermic photochemical reactions1. In nanostructured materials, the heat generated through photothermal processes will be confined within the individual nanostructures when heat transfer to neighbouring nanostructures and the environment is slow. This leads to unprecedented photothermal effects that cannot be observed in bulk materials, especially when a strong, pulsed light source is used2,3. Here we demonstrate an enhanced photothermal phenomenon with conducting polymer nanofibres in which a camera flash causes instantaneous welding. Under flash irradiation, polyaniline nanofibres 'melt' to form a smooth and continuous film from an originally random network of nanofibres. This photothermal effect can be used to form asymmetric nanofibre films, to melt-blend polymer–polymer nanocomposites rapidly and to photo-pattern polymer nanofibre films.

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Figure 1: Typical TEM images showing polyaniline nanofibres before and after exposure to a camera flash.
Figure 2: A polyaniline nanofibre film before and after welding.
Figure 3: SEM image showing the cross-section of an asymmetric free-standing nanofibre film produced by flash welding.
Figure 4: Optical microscope images showing that flash welding through a copper grid (a) reproduces the grid pattern on a polyaniline nanofibre film (b).
Figure 5: SEM images showing a mixture of polyaniline nanofibres and polystyrene spheres before (a) and after (b) flash welding.

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Acknowledgements

We thank C.-W. Chu for help with FTIR measurements. We acknowledge the financial and program support of the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation (MARCO) and its Focus Center on Function Engineered NanoArchitectonics (FENA).

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and California NanoSystems Institute University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-1569, California, USA

    Jiaxing Huang & Richard B. Kaner

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Correspondence to Richard B. Kaner.

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Huang, J., Kaner, R. Flash welding of conducting polymer nanofibres. Nature Mater 3, 783–786 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1242

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