Visible-light photocatalytic degradation performances and thermal stability due to the synergetic effect of TiO2 with conductive copolymers of polyaniline and polypyrrole

Nanoscale. 2013 Sep 21;5(18):8703-10. doi: 10.1039/c3nr02502k.

Abstract

Conductive polypyrrole-polyaniline/TiO2 nanocomposites (PPy-PANI/TiO2) were prepared by in situ oxidative copolymerization of pyrrole and aniline monomers in the presence of TiO2. For comparison studies, polypyrrole/TiO2 (PPy/TiO2) and polyaniline/TiO2 (PANI/TiO2) were also prepared. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, zeta potential analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and photocurrent tests. In contrast to PPy/TiO2 and PANI/TiO2, PPy-PANI/TiO2 exhibits obvious absorption in the visible-light range, and is much superior to PPy/TiO2 and PANI/TiO2 in thermal stability. It is found that PPy-PANI/TiO2 performs well in the visible-light photocatalytic degradation of 4-nitrophenol. The optimized pyrrole : aniline : TiO2 molar ratio for best performance is 0.75 : 0.25 : 100. The efficacy of PPy-PANI/TiO2 is attributed to its conductivity, conjugated structure, as well as to the synergy amidst polypyrrole, polyaniline and TiO2.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aniline Compounds / chemistry*
  • Catalysis
  • Light*
  • Nitrophenols / chemistry
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Photolysis
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Pyrroles / chemistry*
  • Temperature
  • Titanium / chemistry*

Substances

  • Aniline Compounds
  • Nitrophenols
  • Polymers
  • Pyrroles
  • polyaniline
  • titanium dioxide
  • polypyrrole
  • Titanium
  • 4-nitrophenol