PREPARATION OF POLYANLINE SUPPORTED g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 NANOCOMPOSITE WITH ENHANCED PHOTOCATALYTIC ACTIVITY FOR METHYELEN BLUE DYE DEGRADATION

Abstract

In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activities of novel polyaniline supported ternary nanocomposite (PANI supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3). Crystal structures, absorption edges (band gap), surface functional groups and optical properties of the as-synthesized photocatalyst were characterized by using XRD, UV-Vis, FTIR and PL techniques respectively. XRD results revealed that all the catalysts are having crystallite size in the range 8-18 nm. Photocatalytic degradation activities of all supported and unsupported ternary nanocomposites under visible irradiation have been evaluated using methylene blue as a model organic pollutant dye in aqueous solution and real sewage samples collected from Bahir Dar textile industry. Polyaniline supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 photocatalyst exhibited effective degradation efficiency of methylene blue (MB) dye than unsupported ternary system T2(g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 at 20wt%) counterpart with degradation efficiency of 94.8% and 86.2% respectively under visible light irradiation. The effect of operational parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration, PZC, photocatalyst load and scavengers were also investigated. Stability towards the photocatalytic degradation of the polyaniline supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 was evaluated at four degradation cycles which decreases from 94.8 to 78.2% confirming the fairly good stability of the supported nanocomoposite. Mechanism of scavenger reaction also assures that the most important species in the degradation process could be ˙O2ˉ and ˙OH. Degradation result suggested that supported ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst exhibited higher efficiency on the photodegradation of Methylene blue (93.6%) than real sewage sample solution (75.7%). Photocatalytic degradation of MB dye follows the pseudo first order kinetics for the entire as-synthesized nanocomposite

In this study, we report the synthesis, characterization and photocatalytic activities of novel polyaniline supported ternary nanocomposite (PANI supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3). Crystal structures, absorption edges (band gap), surface functional groups and optical properties of the as-synthesized photocatalyst were characterized by using XRD, UV-Vis, FTIR and PL techniques respectively. XRD results revealed that all the catalysts are having crystallite size in the range 8-18 nm. Photocatalytic degradation activities of all supported and unsupported ternary nanocomposites under visible irradiation have been evaluated using methylene blue as a model organic pollutant dye in aqueous solution and real sewage samples collected from Bahir Dar textile industry. Polyaniline supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 photocatalyst exhibited effective degradation efficiency of methylene blue (MB) dye than unsupported ternary system T2(g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 at 20wt%) counterpart with degradation efficiency of 94.8% and 86.2% respectively under visible light irradiation. The effect of operational parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration, PZC, photocatalyst load and scavengers were also investigated. Stability towards the photocatalytic degradation of the polyaniline supported g-C3N4/TiO2/Ag2CO3 was evaluated at four degradation cycles which decreases from 94.8 to 78.2% confirming the fairly good stability of the supported nanocomoposite. Mechanism of scavenger reaction also assures that the most important species in the degradation process could be ˙O2ˉ and ˙OH. Degradation result suggested that supported ternary nanocomposite photocatalyst exhibited higher efficiency on the photodegradation of Methylene blue (93.6%) than real sewage sample solution (75.7%). Photocatalytic degradation of MB dye follows the pseudo first order kinetics for the entire as-synthesized nanocomposite