Vitamin C assisted synthesis of rGO-Ag/PANI nanocomposites for improved photocatalytic degradation of pharmaceutical wastes

RSC Adv. 2021 Mar 24;11(20):12030-12035. doi: 10.1039/d1ra00171j. eCollection 2021 Mar 23.

Abstract

A highly efficient visible light active polyaniline (PANI)/Ag composites grafted reduced graphene oxide (rGO-Ag/PANI) was prepared for the efficient photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol. The structural, morphological, and light absorption properties of the as-synthesized rGO-Ag/PANI were characterized by UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Paracetamol was taken as a model water pollutant to investigate the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the rGO-PANI/Ag nanocomposites under visible light radiation. The result shows the degradation of paracetamol to be 99.6% in the acidic medium (pH 5) and 75.76% in the basic medium (pH 9), respectively. The enhanced degradation efficiency is attributed to the synergetic effect of rGO, PANI, and Ag NPs in the nanocomposites. This synergy of the rGO-Ag/PANI is explained by the strong adsorption efficiency, charge separation, and light absorption in the visible region.