Polyaniline is a conducting polymer with incredible promise, but it has had limited use due to poor reaction control and processability associated with conventional morphologies. Polyaniline nanofibers, on the other hand, have demonstrated, through manufacturing techniques discovered during the past decade, increased processability, higher surface area, and improved consistency and stability in aqueous dispersions, which are finally allowing for expanded commercial development of this promising polymer. This review explores some intriguing applications of polyaniline nanofibers, as well as the advantages and remaining challenges in developing better products using polyaniline in this new morphology.

A simple, scalable method for fabricating fouling-resistant ultrafiltration membranes is described. A self-doped, sulfonated form of polyaniline was blended into polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes to enhance hydrophilicity and fouling resistance. Polyaniline in its base form was sulfonated with fuming sulfuric acid, yielding sulfonated polyaniline (SPANi) with a degree of sulfonation of ∼0.5 confirmed by XPS. The SPANi polymer was dedoped and dissolved in a solution of polysulfone in N-methylpyrollidone at varying concentrations. During phase inversion to form membranes, SPANi is redoped and precipitated within the PSf membrane films in a facile one-step process. Composite membranes containing increasing amounts of SPANi were compared to the pure PSf membranes to determine changes in performance, hydrophilicity, and antifouling characteristics. The composite membranes exhibit fluxes similar to those of the pure PSf membrane and maintain rejection properties similar to those of current UF membranes. Captive bubble contact angle measurements and atomic force microscopy suggest increasing membrane hydrophilicity with increasing SPANi content. During flux decline and recovery experiments, SPANi/PSf composite membranes exhibited higher flux recovery than a pure PSf membrane, with the best performing membrane regaining 95% of its original flux after being washed with deionized water, demonstrating a high resistance to irreversible fouling.

Azide-functionalized graphene oxide (AGO) was covalently anchored onto commercial reverse osmosis (RO) membrane surfaces via azide photochemistry. Surface modification was carried out by coating the RO membrane with an aqueous dispersion of AGO followed by UV exposure under ambient conditions. This simple process produces a hydrophilic, smooth, antibacterial membrane with limited reduction in water permeability or salt selectivity. The GO-RO membrane exhibited a 17-fold reduction in biofouling after 24 h of Escherichia coli contact and almost 2 times reduced BSA fouling after a 1 week cross-flow test compared to its unmodified counterpart.