Fabrication of Ultrafine Conducting Polymer and Graphite Nanoparticles

Graphite nanoparticles, with diameters as small as 2 nm (see picture) can be fabricated by the carbonization of polypyrrole nanoparticles of similar dimensions, which have been prepared by a low-temperature polymerization technique in which a micellar microemulsion acts as a “nanoreactor”. The graphite nanoparticles exhibit excellent transparent conductive performance in a polycarbonate medium, and may be envisaged as a substitute for carbon nanotubes.