Abstract
We report on a new method and related mechanism triggering new crystalline phase appearance in polyaniline (PANI), the useful conducting polymer. Different from a standard route toward PANI crystallinity improvement through inserting anions between PANI chains and thus enhancing Coulomb forces, it is found that the strong interactions between multiwalled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) and PANI trigger new crystal phase appearance in the initially amorphous polymer. In addition, embedding BNNTs in PANI matrix induces notable variation of oxidation states or doping level, as revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and dramatically modifies wettability of PANI.