Highly Crystalline PEDOT Nanofiber Templated by Highly Crystalline Nanocellulose

Abstract Packing conjugated conducting polymer chains into long‐range order can significantly boost their carrier‐transport properties, allowing the design and enhancing the performance of applications in next‐generation flexible electronics, energy storage, etc. However, strategies for organizing molecular chains have hitherto been challenging and have been associated with poor reprocessability. This paper discusses the development and application of highly crystalline poly(3, 4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofibers. These highly conductive PEDOT nanofibers possess well‐defined quasi‐one‐dimensional topology combined with highly ordered molecular chain arrangements as a result of interface‐induced morphological shaping followed by recrystallization induced by Cladophora cellulose. The nanofibers are also easily dispersible and able to be reprocessed in aqueous solution. The multiple functionalities of these PEDOT nanofibers are demonstrated by using them as building blocks for applications such as 1D assembled microfibers in an ultra‐sensitive strain sensor, 2D papers for electrochemical energy storage, and 3D aerogels for simultaneous solar‐thermal distillation and thermoelectricity generation. The methods discussed here can be the basis of a new avenue for regulating the molecular structure of, processing, and discovering applications for conjugated conducting polymers.