Abstract
Summary: Hollow octahedrons or microspheres of polyaniline (PANI) were successfully prepared using cuprous oxide (Cu~2~O) crystals as new templates in the presence of H~3~PO~4~ and ammonium peroxydisulfate as a dopant and an oxidant, respectively. Interestingly, the hollow octahedrons (in the reduced form with a conductivity of <10^−8^ S · cm^−1^) could transform into conductive microspheres (in the emeraldine salt form with a conductivity of 10^−2^ S · cm^−1^) when the [APS]/[An] ratio was changed from 1:1 to 2:1. Compared with the common template reported, Cu~2~O crystal is not only a new type of template in terms of both shape and quality, but also omits post‐treatment due to soluble Cu^2+^ formed by the reaction of Cu~2~O with APS during the polymerization process. The universality of Cu~2~O as a template to prepare microstructured PANI was proved by changing the morphology of the Cu~2~O crystal. It was found that the morphology, oxidation and protonation state of PANI microstructures prepared with octahedral Cu~2~O as the template were affected by the [Cu~2~O]/[An] and [APS]/[An] ratio due to the competitive reaction of aniline and Cu~2~O with APS.
TEM images of PANI microspheres prepared using Cu~2~O as a template in the presence of H~3~PO~4~ and APS as a dopant and an oxidant.
imageTEM images of PANI microspheres prepared using Cu~2~O as a template in the presence of H~3~PO~4~ and APS as a dopant and an oxidant.