Poly(aniline-co-o-toluidine) Encapsulated Zinc Oxide Nanocomposite: Preparation, Characterization, and Photocatalytic Reduction of Cr(VI)

Abstract

Poly(aniline-co-o-toluidine) encapsulated zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite was prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization. The composition, morphology and structure of poly(Ani-co-oT)/ZnO nanocomposite were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis). FTIR spectrum endorsed the formation of nanocomposite. TEM image showed that the ZnO nanoparticles were well dispersed in the copolymer matrix. XRD results revealed that the crystallinity of copolymer was more pronounced after the addition of ZnO. TGA results illustrated that the decomposition temperature of nanocomposite was higher than the pure copolymer. Electrical conductivity of the copolymer was increased by the addition ZnO. In addition, the photocatalytic reaction with illuminated nanocomposite can be effectively applied to treat wastewater contaminated with Cr(VI). The reduction pattern of Cr(VI) was better fit to first-order kinetic model. The nanocomposite was also applied as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye.

Conducting polymers/zinc oxide-based photocatalysts for environmental remediation: a review

“…The same nanocomposites also showed good results for the degradation of MB dye up to 82% in UV‐light illumination (Haldorai et al 2014 ). For the reduction of Cr (VI), some other researchers also used poly(aniline-co–o-toluidine) nanohybrids (Sivakumar et al 2015 ). 100% degradation of Congo red dye was reported by Zor et al (Sibel and Budak 2020 ) by polyaniline /ZnO nanohybrids prepared by chemical polymerization, and degradation studies were performed under ultraviolet–visible light irradiation.…”

“…Shivakumar and coworkers fabricated Poly(aniline-co–o-toluidine)/ZnO nanohybrids for the reduction of Cr (VI) from wastewater and the patterns of reduction of Cr (VI) followed the first-order kinetics, as well as these nanohybrids, also showed outstanding degradation of MB. 65% reduction of Cr (VI) and 92% for MB dye were obtained in 3 h duration (Sivakumar et al 2015 ). The poly(azomethyne)/ZnO (poly(azomethyne) is the Schiff’s base or conjugated polymer achieved by condensation having conjugated nitrogen atom (CH = N) in a polymer backbone) was used for the decolorization and photocatalytic degradation of dyes containing wastewater in natural sunlight.…”

Removal of Methylene blue Dye from water through Photocatalytic Activity Using Polymer-Metal Oxide Nanocomposites – a Comparative Study

“…After being rinsed three times with filtered water, the whitish substance was centrifuged. Finally, the produced product was rinsed in pure alcohol before being calcined for 3 hours at 500 0 C (Sivakumar et al, 2015).…”

“…To the above mixture dripping ammonium persulfate (2.28 g, 0.1M) in 100 ml of 0.1 M HCl solution and stirring constantly for 24 h. The finished product was extensively cleaned with clean water until it became colourless. The product was dried in a vacuum oven at 50 °C for 24 h (Sivakumar et al, 2015).…”

“…The finished product was extensively cleaned with deionized water until it became colourless. In a vaccum at 50 °C, the product was dried for 24 h. The composition of metal oxide with polymer to make effective nano composite was 10% ZnO (Sivakumar et al, 2015).…”