# US 2014/0190730 A1 · Conducting polymer nanofibers, methods of making and using same, and uses thereof

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- Number: US 2014/0190730 A1
- Document ID: US20140190730A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/863,548
- Filed: 2013-04-16
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2012-04-18
- Assignees: Cornell University
- Inventors: Margaret Frey; Daehwan Cho; SangGap Lee; Chae Un Kim; Nikolas Hoepker; Mark W. Tate; Meryem Oznur Pehlivaner Kara
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140190730A1

## CPC

- H05K 1/09: Use of materials for the {conductive, e.g. } metallic pattern
- C08L 65/00: Compositions of macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions forming a carbon-to-carbon link in the main chain (C08L7/00 - C08L57/00, C08L61/00 take precedence); Compositions of derivatives of such polymers
- D01D 5/0038: {the fibre formed by solvent evaporation, i.e. dry electro-spinning}
- D01D 5/0046: {the fibre formed by coagulation, i.e. wet electro-spinning}
- D01F 6/44: from mixtures of polymers obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds as major constituent with other polymers or low-molecular-weight compounds
- H01B 1/127: {comprising five-membered aromatic rings in the main chain, e.g. polypyrroles, polythiophenes}
- H05K 1/16: incorporating printed electric components, e.g. printed resistors, capacitors or inductors
- C08G 2261/1424: containing ether groups, including alkoxy
- C08G 2261/3223: containing one or more sulfur atoms as the only heteroatom, e.g. thiophene
- C08G 2261/51: Charge transport
- C08G 2261/94: Applications in sensors, e.g. biosensors
- H05K 2201/0278: Polymeric fibers
- H05K 2201/0281: Conductive fibers
- H05K 2201/10151: Sensor
- H05K: PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- C08L: COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS (compositions based on polymerisable monomers C08F, C08G; artificial filaments or fibres D01F; textile treating compositions D06)
- D01D: MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
- D01F: CHEMICAL FEATURES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON FILAMENTS
- H01B: CABLES; CONDUCTORS; INSULATORS; SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR THEIR CONDUCTIVE, INSULATING OR DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES (selection for magnetic properties H01F1/00; waveguides H01P {; printed circuits H05K})
- C08G: MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS

## Abstract

Provided are conducting polymer nanofibers, methods of making conducting polymer nanofibers, and uses thereof. The conducting polymer nanofibers can be formed by, for example, electrospinning, force spinning, and centrifugal spinning using a spinning dope. The conducting polymer nanofibers can be used in devices, such as a radiation detecting device.

## Claims

### Claim 1

1) A method for making a conducting polymer nanofiber or plurality of nanofibers comprising the steps of:
a) providing a spinning dope comprising:
a non-conducting polymer, wherein the non-conducting polymer is present at 0.5% by weight to 8% by weight,
a conducting polymer,
an organic solvent, wherein the organic solvent is present at 2.5% by weight to 20% by weight,
water,
a nonionic surfactant, and
optionally, a cross-linking agent; and
b) processing the spinning dope such that the conducting polymer nanofiber or plurality of conducting polymer nanofibers are formed.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

2) The method of claim 1, wherein the non-conducting polymer is selected from poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(ethylene oxide), poly(acrylic acid), and combinations thereof.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

3) The method of claim 1, wherein the conducting polymer is selected from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), poly(fluorene)s, polyphenylenes, polypyrenes, polyazulenes, polynaphthalenes, poly(pyrrole)s (PPYs), polycarbazoles, polyindoles, polyazepines, polyanilines (PANIs), poly(thiophene)s (PTs), poly(p-phenylene sulfide) (PPSs), poly(acetylene)s (PACs), poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV), and combinations thereof.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

4) The method of claim 1, wherein the nonionic surfactant is an alcohol ethoxylate, alkylphenol ethoxylate, ethylene oxide/propylene oxide block copolymer, alkylpolyglycoside, alkyl N-methylglucamide, amine oxide, alkanolamide, amine ethoxylate, methyl ester ethoxylate, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

5) The method of claim 1, wherein the organic solvent is selected from a polar aprotic solvent, a diol, a cyclic ether, and combinations thereof.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

6) The method of claim 5, wherein the polar aprotic solvent is dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethylformamide, or acetonitrile, the diol is ethylene glycol or propylene glycol, and the cyclic ether is tetrahydrofuran or dioxane.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

7) The method of claim 1, wherein the cross-linking agent is a bifunctional cross-linking agent comprising hydroxy moieties, amine moieties, aldehyde moieties, acid moieties, cyanate moieties, isocyanate moieties, sulfonate moieties, urea moieties, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

8) The method of claim 7, where in the cross-linking agent is glutaraldehyde.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

9) The method of claim 1, wherein the spinning dope further comprises a surface-functionalizingpolymer selected from poly(methyl vinyl ether-alt-maleic anhydride), 1,5-dimethyl-1,5-diazaundecamethylene polymethobromide and/or hexadimethrine bromide), polystyrene8K-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)25K-block-polyisoprene10K (PS8K-b-P(E/B)25K-b-PI10K) grafted with C18H37(OCH2CH2)nOH, where n is 10), or a combination thereof, and the conducting polymer nanofibers are surface functionalized.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

10) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of subjecting the conducting polymer nanofiber or plurality of conducting polymer nanofibers to a surface-functionalizing plasma process.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

11) The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of subjecting the conducting polymer nanofiber to a layer-by-layer process, such that a surface-functionalized conducting polymer nanofiber or plurality of surface-functionalized conducting polymer nanofibers is formed.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

12) The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the spinning dope is an electrospinning process, a force spinning process, or centrifugal spinning process.

### Claim 13

13) A device comprising a conducting polymer nanofiber or a plurality of conducting polymer nanofibers.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

14) The device of claim 13, wherein the individual nanofibers have a conductivity of at least 0.1 S m−1 and a diameter of at least 100 nanometers and a length of at least 100 microns.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

15) The device of claim 13, wherein the device is an ionizing radiation sensor comprising:
a) a substrate;
b) a patterned metal layer disposed on the substrate; and
c) the plurality of nanofibers in contact with at least a portion of the patterned metal layer.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

16) The device of claim 15, wherein the substrate is formed from a polymer, agarose, glass, metal, or silicon.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

17) The device of claim 15, wherein the patterned metal layer is formed from gold, copper, titanium, chromium, platinum, silver, tungsten, or a combination thereof.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

18) The device of claim 15, wherein the patterned metal layer is a plurality of electrodes and, optionally, electrical contacts.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

19) The device of claim 15, wherein the patterned metal layer is an interdigitated microelectrode array.