Considering for the potential application in tissue engineering, polyaniline (PANi). lm was fabricated via a two-step route: a self-assembled monolayer of C6H5NHC3H6Si(OMe)(3) was firstly formed on the singlecrystal Si substrate; the conducting PANi. lm was then prepared through electroless surface polymerization of the aniline molecules on the aniline monolayer-bearing silane surface in an acidic aqueous solution. The formation of PANi. lm on Si surface was confirmed by characterizations of X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) and specular reflectance Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectrum, etc. At last, the proliferation behaviors of PC-12 cells on the PANi. lm surface were studied by the [ 3-(4,5-dimethyldiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) colorimetric assays, acridine orange fluorometric staining, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation, etc. The results demonstrate that the as-prepared PANi. lm provides high ability for cell proliferation, exhibiting promising potentials as surface coating to cultivate neuronal cells for applications in the tissue engineering. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.