Letter abstract
Nature Materials 3, 783 - 786 (2004)
Published online: 24 October 2004 | doi:10.1038/nmat1242
Subject Categories: Polymers | Nanoscale materials | Design synthesis and processing
Flash welding of conducting polymer nanofibres
Jiaxing Huang1 & Richard B. Kaner1
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.
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and California NanoSystems Institute University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1569, USA
Correspondence to: Richard B. Kaner1 e-mail: kaner@chem.ucla.edu
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