Effective and simple fabrication of pyrrole and thiophene-based poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO composites for high photocatalytic performance

Abstract

Pyrrole (Py) and thiophene (Th) based copolymers of poly(Py-co-Th) and its composites poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO were fabricated by varying the addition of ZnO ranging from 1-15 wt% by chemical oxidative polymerization approach. The photocatalytic performance of prepared poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO composites was assessed together with the interaction study of ZnO with poly(Py-co-Th). The formation of poly(Py-co-Th) copolymer and poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO composites were confirmed by FTIR, UV−Vis, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The prepared poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO composites showed excellent photocatalytic representation towards methylene blue (MB) degradation in comparison to the poly(Py-co-Th) copolymer. All the composites showed 90.2–95.3% dye removal after the time span of 420 min which is far better compared to the poly(Th-co-Py) copolymer (84.3%). Thus, the poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO composites showed promising prospects for the removal of organic dye for water purifications. These results may provide a unique insight to fabricate copolymer-based poly(Py-co-Th)/ZnO photocatalysts for organic pollutants management.