Abstract
The present study highlights the facile synthesis of polyaniline (PANI)-based nanocomposites doped with SrTiO3 nanocubes synthesized via the in situ oxidative polymerization technique using ammonium persulfate (APS) as an oxidant in acidic medium for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements were used to characterize the prepared nanocomposite photocatalysts. The photocatalytic efficiencies of the photocatalysts were examined by degrading methylene blue (MB) under visible light irradiation. The results showed that the degradation efficiency of the composite photocatalysts that were doped with SrTiO3 nanocubes was higher than that of the undoped polyaniline. In this study, the effects of the weight ratio of polyaniline to SrTiO3 on the photocatalytic activities were investigated. The results revealed that the nanocomposite P-Sr500 was found to be an optimum photocatalyst, with a 97% degradation efficiency after 90 min of irradiation under solar light.
Highlights
One of the most essential issues in pollution control from an environmental and biological point of view is the removal of toxic chemicals from waste water
Polyaniline was synthesized by the oxidative polymerization of distilled aniline that was dissolved in aqueous H2 SO4 (0.5 M), using ammonium persulfate (APS) as an oxidant
Can excite electrons from its HOMO to lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) upon photo-illumination by absorbing energy from photons. These characteristic transitions in PANI lead to the formation of electrons and holes in the HOMO and LUMO of PANI, respectively, which are further responsible for the generation of advanced oxidation species (AOS), thereby degrading methylene blue (MB)
Summary
One of the most essential issues in pollution control from an environmental and biological point of view is the removal of toxic chemicals from waste water. The advanced oxidation process (AOP), an important property of semiconductors, has attracted the attention of researchers for the treatment of dye wastewater with enhanced degradation efficacy, physical and chemical properties and low toxicity Owing to their filled valence band (VB) and empty conduction band (CB) in the ground state, semiconductors act as efficient photo-sensitizers in photocatalytic reactions. Due to their good environmental stability, high absorption coefficients in the visible spectrum and high electron–hole mobility, conducting polymers have attracted considerable attention of researchers Owing to their significant electron-hole mobility properties, conducting polymers have been demonstrated to perform as stable photo-sensitizers for semiconductors, such as TiO2 , ZnO, WO3 , ZnS, etc. The synthesized composite photocatalysts were characterized for morphological analysis, molecular structure and photo-responsive properties, and the effects of the weight ratio of polyaniline to SrTiO3 on the photocatalytic activities were studied
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