Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers were decorated with TiO2, ZnO and TiO2/ZnO nanoparticles for the first time to prepare flexible multifunctional nanofibrous membranes.
Polyaniline (PANI)/CdO nanocomposite
was prepared for the first
time in aqueous diethylene glycol solution medium, by chemical oxidative
polymerization, and its photocatalytical activity was studied. Optical
analysis of the new PANI/CdO nanocomposite revealed that electron
densities and bond energies of the PANI homopolymer decreased after
modifying with CdO nanoparticles, due to interactions between PANI
chains and CdO nanoparticles. The prepared PANI/CdO nanocomposite
exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity under both UV light and
natural sunlight irradiation. The photocatalytic decolorization rate
was increased up to 7 times after CdO addition, compared to the decolorization
rate of PANI homopolymer under UV light irradiation. During the photocatalytic
activity investigations, methylene blue and malachite green dyes were
photocatalytically decolorized under natural sunlight irradiation
with 99% efficiency by the use of 0.4 mg/mL PANI/CdO nanocomposite
as photocatalyst. Furthermore, the PANI/CdO photocatalyst retains
its efficiency with slight decreases upon being reused up to five
times.
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