Polyaniline "nanotube" self-assembly: the stage of granular agglomeration on nanorod templates.

The identification and control of a critical stage of polyaniline "nanotube" self-assembly is presented, namely the granular agglomeration or growth onto nanorod templates. When the synthesis pH is held above 2.5, smooth insulating nanorods exhibiting hydrogen bonding and containing phenazine structures are produced, while below pH 2.5, small 15-30 nm granular polyaniline nanoparticles appear to agglomerate onto the available nanorod surface, apparently improving conductivity of the resulting structures by three orders of magnitude. This finding affects both fundamental theories of polyaniline nanostructure self-assembly and their practical applications.