Conclusions and Future Aspects

Conclusions

The polymers have produced much interest at the global level for their potential range of applications in the area of nanotechnology and optoelectronic devices because the polymers have excellent electrical insulating properties, and their applications can be varied as per insulating properties. Polyaniline (PANI) is one of the common and extensively explored conducting polymers due to its excellent electrochemical and electrical properties. PANI thin film is an emerging area of research owing to its various applications in the field of solar cell technologies, drug delivery, organic light emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, sensors, electrochromic displays, etc. The present book entitled “Properties, Techniques, and Applications of Polyaniline (PANI) Thin Films: Emerging Research and Opportunities,” does not deal with well-recognized physiochemical properties of PANI thin films and concerned devices but also presents the state-of-the-art developments and advances in this field. This book can provide in-depth information on high-throughput synthesis of PANI thin films and their properties along with promising applications for the scientific communities. PANI thin films could be prepared through physical and chemical processes, but generally, these are processed via chemical synthesis. These films play an essential role in developing energy storage and conversion devices. There are some specific needs for good electrochromic devices as per desired applications. So this book will provide all the information related to PANI thin films to the scientist and researchers across the globe those are working in these promising areas of research. This book offers an appropriate overview of a current state-state-of-art of the use of PANI thin film-based solar cells, where it covers the systematic methodologies and technologies. This book contains eight chapters discussing the fundamentals of synthesis and preparation of PANI thin films, their physical and chemical properties, and various applications.

The First Chapter summarized the introduction of PANI as a leading polymer and other conducting polymers followed by the synthesis of PANI thin films by the diverse strategies pursued by various applications in different fields. PANI has gained a lot of attention due to its high conductivity, environmental stability, facile synthesis, easy handling, and low-cost of monomer. Research on the synthesis and characterization of PANI has pulled in extraordinary consideration because of their extensive variety of promising applications. PANI present in three oxidation states Leucoemeraldine base, Pernigraniline base, and Emeraldine base. It is a p-type material and has excellent mechanical tractability and environmentally friendly stability. The conductivity of PANI thin films could be monitored with doping or undoping, and have potential applications in numerous fields viz. lightweight battery electrodes, electromagnetic shielding devices, anti-corrosion coatings, and bio and gas-based sensors.

In the very next chapter (Chapter Two) deals with the synthesis of PANI thin films by various methods such as surface-initiate delectro-polymerization, Langmuir-Blodgett technique, atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization technique, mSILAR, etc. The oxidative polymerization is the simplest and highly studied method. PANI thin films can be deposited on various substances by chemical and physical processes. The chemical process categorized into three types: bulk oxidative chemical polymerization, surface-located polymerization, and chemical vapor deposition. Likewise, the physical method mainly deals with the mode of electrodeposition. The fabricated PANI thin films have characterized by different characterization techniques such as FTIR, Raman, XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, AFM, CV, etc. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy used for structural analysis of synthesized PANI thin films while the crystalline nature determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Similarly, SEM, TEM & AFM have been used for surface analysis of PANI thin films. The thermal and photosensitive characteristics of thin PANI films analyzed by TGA and optical absorbance spectroscopy, respectively. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) curve gives information about the electrochemical reaction rate and redox potential of PANI thin films.