Study of Thermal, Electrical, and Photocatalytic Activity of Iron Complex Doped Polypyrrole and Polythiophene Nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites of polypyrrole (PPY) and polythiophene (PTP) were prepared with [Fe(TEMED)(H2O)(CN)3]·H2O photoadduct via the oxidative chemical polymerization method. The morphologies and structures of the photoadduct and nanocomposites were studied by XRD, SEM, and FTIR characterization techniques. Thermal and electrical properties of nanocomposites were found to be significantly improved in comparison to pristine polymers. The photocatalytic activities of samples were studied by monitoring the degradation of methyl orange (MO), methylene blue (MB), Rhodamine B (RhB), and Eosin Gelblich (EG) dyes under irradiation, using a UV–vis spectrophotometer. The samples were found to exhibit promising photocatalytic activities against dye degradation under light illumination. Results also showed attenuation in photodegradation of the MO dye by the disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate dihydrate (EDTA-Na2; C10H14N2Na2O8·2H2O) (hole scavenger) and tert-butyl alcohol (C4H10O) (radical scavenger). This clearly indicate...