Polyaniline‐ZnO Hybrid Nanocomposites with Enhanced Photocatalytic and Electrochemical Performance

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, polyaniline‐zinc oxide (PANI‐ZnO) nanocomposites (NCPs) were prepared by in‐situ chemical polymerization process. The prepared PANI‐ZnO was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, laser size tester, XPS, UV‐Vis DRS and PL. The photocatalytic ability was evaluated for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The results indicated that the addition of PANI effectively enhanced the photocatalytic activity of bare ZnO. PANI‐ZnO exhibited significantly enhanced photocatalytic properties, the reaction rate constant (0.01944 min−1) is higher than that of bare ZnO (0.00245 min−1) and PANI (0.00585 min−1). Scavenger test was used to determine the role of active species, combining the analysis results of UV‐Vis DRS and PL, accordingly the photocatalytic mechanism of PANI‐ZnO was proposed. Meanwhile, the as‐prepared PANI‐ZnO NCPs were used to decorate glassy carbon electrode (GCE), and the electrochemical properties of bare GCE and PANI‐ZnO/GCE have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results indicated that the addition of PANI‐ZnO effectively enhanced the electrochemical property of bare GCE. The maximum current density of PANI‐ZnO/GCE is 0.698 mA cm−2, which is higher than that of bare GCE (0.312 mA cm−2). Herein, the surface modification layer of PANI‐ZnO plays a critical role in enhancing current output.