Facile route to achieve silver@polyaniline nanofibers

Silver@polyaniline (Ag@PANI) nanofibers with length up to several micrometers were achieved through a simple “mix-and-wait” method, where silver nitrate was reduced by aniline in aqueous solution and Ag and PANI were produced simultaneously to form core-shell nanostructure in the absence of any other additives. A thermodynamic-controlled process was considered for the generation of the long fibers of Ag@PANI since the low oxidation ability of silver nitrate to aniline and low reactants concentrations preferred a slow reaction rate. Furthermore, after removing the polymer shell by incubating the Ag@PANI in N,N-dimethylformamide, the 1D Ag core structure kept unchanged and could be found application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering fields.