Polyaniline/ZnO nanocomposites for the removal of methyl orange dye from waste water

Abstract

In this paper, we report the safe removal of methyl orange (MO) dye from aqueous solution using chemical interaction of dye molecule with polyaniline/zinc oxide (PANI/ZnO) nanocomposite. PANI/ZnO nanocomposite has been prepared by in situ polymerization. PANI/ZnO nanocomposite was found to be the best promising candidate for adsorption of dyes due to more porosities compared to that of pure PANI. In the present investigation, PANI/ZnO nanocomposite was mixed in a solution of MO dye and used for adsorption process. Color removal was studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy and the spectra were recorded for specific time interval and validation of kinetic model has been applied. Absorbance of PANI/ZnO nanocomposite was found to be increased as compared to that of pure ZnO nanoparticles and pure PANI due to synergistic effect. Comparatively, the removal of dye was also found to be more by using PANI/ZnO nanocomposites. In order to evaluate kinetic mechanism the pseudo-first-order model, pseudo-second-order model and intraparticle diffusion models were verified by the linear equation analysis. Adsorption mechanism of pseudo-second-order model was systematically explained for removal of dye using PANI/ZnO nanocomposite. The results clearly demonstrated that the adsorption mechanism gives very novel and green method of removal of hazardous dyes from waste water.