Preparation of Polyaniline-Modified TiO2 Nanoparticles by In Situ Chemical Oxidative Polymerization and their Photocatalytic Activity for the Degradation of Methyl Orange under Natural Light

Abstract

Polyaniline-modified nanocrystalline TiO2 composites were successfully prepared by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization and used as an efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of methyl orange under natural light. The nanocomposites were characterized by Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis spectra. Results show that polyaniline-modified nanocrystalline TiO2 composites exhibit significantly higher photocatalytic activity than that of neat TiO2 on degradation of methyl orange under natural light. In addition, the conductivity of polyaniline-modified TiO2 nanoparticles was also investigated and has reached 2.65 × 10-1 S cm-1 at room temperature.