Synthesis and characterization of polyaniline–zirconium dioxide and polyaniline–cerium dioxide composites with enhanced photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B dye

Abstract

For the first time, chloroform and 2-butanol were used as solvent systems for the preparation of ZrO2–PANI and CeO2–PANI composites. Solubility of the synthesized composites was studied in chloroform, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), and in mixture of toluene + 2-propanol (2:1). XRD and cyclic voltammetry data showed that the ZrO2–PANI and CeO2–PANI composites possess both crystalline and amorphous domains indicating some sort of conductivity. TGA results showed that ZrO2–PANI composite have a better thermal stability than pure PANI; however, CeO2–PANI composite has lower thermal stability than pure PANI. The conjugated unsaturated structure of PANI is responsible for the enhanced photocatalytic properties of ZrO2–PANI and CeO2–PANI. Photocatalytic results showed that, at photolysis time of 60 min, rhodamine B (RhB) dye was degraded up to 34 and 35% by ZrO2–PANI and CeO2–PANI, respectively. The degradation products of RhB were quantified by LC–MS and GC–MS, and accordingly, a detailed pathway was proposed.