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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Bio-oils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262865
Title: Fabrication, structural characterization and sensing properties of polydiacetylene nanofibers templated from anodized aluminum oxide

Author
item TONG, LING - Nanjing Tech University
item CHENG, BOWEN - Tianjin Polytechnic University
item Liu, Zengshe - Kevin
item WANG, YONG - Nanjing Tech University

Submitted to: Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2011
Publication Date: 5/31/2011
Citation: Tong, L., Cheng, B., Liu, Z., Wang, Y. 2011. Fabrication, structural characterization and sensing properties of polydiacetylene nanofibers templated from anodized aluminum oxide. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 155:584-591.

Interpretive Summary: Chem/bio-sensors are very important for applications in homeland security, environmental protection, etc. Polydiacetylene (PDA), which is a conjugated polymer, has shown its potential in the applications of sensors and optoelectronics. This manuscript explores the fabrication of nanofiber arrays of PDA using the anodized aluminum oxide template and also studies their sensing properties.

Technical Abstract: Polydiacetylene (PDA), a unique conjugated polymer, has shown its potential in the application of chem/bio-sensors and optoelectronics. In this work, we first infiltrated PDA monomer (10, 12-pentacosadiynoic acid, PCDA) melted into the anodized aluminum oxide template, and then illuminated the infiltrated template with UV light to initiate the polymerization of PCDA. After etching away the aluminum oxide templates, we obtained solid poly-PCDA nanofibers. We found that, even tightly confined in a template, pores with a diameter as small as ~35 nm, PCDA crystals were able to be polymerized through a solid polymerization mechanism induced by UV light. Poly-PCDA nanofibers, both in the released form and embedded in the template, showed characteristic blue to red color change in sensing the exposure of organic solvents and temperature increases, and the red colored fibers possessed strong fluorescence. Moreover, poly-PCDA nanofibers were highly crystalline, and oriented favorably in a certain direction due to the confinement of nanopores, as demonstrated by X-ray diffraction texture analysis and orientation distribution analysis by scanning confocal optical microscopy.