ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, vol.53, no.27, pp.6946-6950, 2014 (SCI-Expanded)
Mechanical treatment of polymers produces surface cations and anions which, as demonstrated here for the first time, can drive chemical reactions. In particular, it is shown that such a mechanical treatment transforms nonconductive polyaniline into its conductive form. These results provide a mechanical means of patterning conductive polymers and also coating small polymer objects with conductive polyaniline films preventing accumulation of static electricity.