The application of nanopipettes to conducting polymer fabrication, imaging and electrochemical characterization

The emergence of conducting polymer nanostructures, with their important and wide-ranging applications in sensors, displays and coatings, has not been accompanied by an emergence of appropriate electrochemical nanoscale characterization tools. Herein we show that nanopipettes, as implemented in variants of the scanning ion conductance microscope, have the potential to address numerous needs of the conducting polymer nanostructure community. Specifically, nanopipettes can fabricate freestanding conducting polymer nanowires, map electroactivity and conductivity, deliver doses of reagents with nanoscale precision, perform highly localized cyclic voltammetry and characterize ion flux from actuators. Additionally, nanopipette innovations already demonstrated in biological and analytical fields - such as individually controlled double-barreled nanopipette setups, voltage-controlled deposition and functionalized surfaces - open the door to new approaches to conducting polymer nanostructure fabrication and characterization. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.