A Novel Nano CuO-Poly(o-toluidine) Hybrid Material: Preparation, Characterization and Photocatalytic Studies

Abstract

It is well known that the nano materials on aging undergoes agglomeration resulting in the increase in the particle size with time. To overcome this issue the nano materials can be encapsulated in some other material like resins, polymers etc. Polymer nanocomposite is a new class of hybrid nanomaterial that gains significant attention mainly because of their novel and unique functional characteristics. Development of nanocomposites comprising both organic and inorganic materials with tailor made properties is a challenge. The characteristics of nanocomposite mainly depends on the constituent elements and the manner in which they are integrated within the composite entity. The present work is intended to prepare polymer nanocomposites of poly(o-toluidine) (POT) incorporating nano copper oxide (n-CuO) of three different compositions and to study its properties at the function of its compositional changes. For the first time, we report the synthesis of POT-n-CuO hybrid materials and their photocatalytic activities. Hence, exploration of influencing factors on the property emergence of resultant nanocomposite material is crucial one. Selected quantity of n-CuO incorporations leads to alter the noncrystalline state of POT into crystalline. It regulates the structural organizations of POT matrix and helps to emerge with composite polycrystalline phases. Observed XRD results ensured the emerged monoclinic structure of CuO, orthorhombic structure of copper hydroxide and POT. UV–Vis investigations recorded were used to estimate the band gap values as 2.44, 2.38 and 2.32 eV respectively for 25, 50 and 75 wt% of n-CuO incorporated POT composite samples. Fourier transform infrared reveals strong CuO–POT interaction. Morphological characterizations confirms the n-CuO influenced structural modifications in nanocomposite samples. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals the enhanced thermal stability of samples as the composition changes with n-CuO. These composites were also subjected to the photocatalytic studies for degradation of IC dye and their efficacy is good in the present of sunlight. Among the three samples POTCu75 exhibited better photocatalytic activity when studied under solar simulator.