Photocatalytic and Antimicrobial Activities of Polyaniline Nanocomposites with Molybdates

Abstract

The present study describes the process for the formation of PANI nanocomposite incorporated with metal (Cd, Bi, Ba) molybdates of binary metal oxide. The PANI and its nanocomposites were prepared by 0.1 M aniline in 100 mL of 1 M sulphuric acid in the presence or absence of 50 mg of metal molybdate by chemical polymerization using 0.1 M APS as oxidant in 100 mL of 1 M sulphuric acid. The polymerisation yields are increased due to incorporation of metal molybdates. The growth of polymerization is also enhanced. The interaction of metal molybdates into PANI matrix leads to increase in very high conductivity, heavy interaction between the two-polymer chain lead to increase in stability of the polymer. In the incorporation of metal molybdate into the polymer matrix leads to increase in conductivity of about 5, 4 and 2 times with respect to the original sample (PANI) as in PANI-CdMoO₄, PANI-BiMoO₄ and PANI-BaMoO₄ respectively. The incorporation of metal molybdates is confirmed by XRD and UV-VIS spectral studies. The XRD studies are also suggested the presence of chemical interaction between polymer chain and incorporated metal molybdates. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized material PANI and PANI-nanocomposites were tested against four bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, P. aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris using disc diffusion method. The nanocomposite doped polymer possesses excellent antibacterial property. The results on MB dye degradation showed that PANI-SO₄^2-/CdMoO₄ photocatalyst, under visible light degraded 80.2 % of MB dye after 180 min. The photo-degradation study, thus, suggests that the light absorption of PANI and catalytic role of CdMoO₄ could be coupled for high photo-catalytic functionality. This work opens a new avenue for the design of new modified photo-catalysts with high activity for the large-scale water treatment and other applications.<div><br></div>