Polyaniline nanotubes prepared by one-step synergistic polymerization of aniline and acrylic acid

The electrochemical property of electrode materials greatly depends on their morphologies. This report introduces a novel and facile synthesis method for polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes from one-step synergistic polymerization of aniline and acrylic acid in an aqueous solution induced by the addition of ammonium persulfate (APS). The molar ratio of aniline to AA (Xani/AA) is found to have great influence on the morphology of the produced PANI. Hollow PANI nanotubes with an average inner diameter of 80 nm and outer diameter of 180 nm can be mainly produced when Xani/AA is not higher than 1. The electrochemical properties of the prepared PANI nanotubes have been investigated using a three-electrode system. The specific capacitance of PANI nanotubes can reach 436 F/g at a current density of 0.5 A/g in 1 mol/L H2SO4 solution. Furthermore, the specific capacitance of the PANI nanotube maintains 89.2% after 500 charging/discharging cycles at a current density of 0.5 A/g, indicating a good cycling stability.