Partic. vol. 26 pp. 73-78 (June 2016)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2015.07.003

Preparation of polypyrrole/TiO₂ nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic performance

Fei Gao, Xianhui Hou, Aolan Wang, Guangwen Chu, Wei Wu^*, Jianfeng Chen, Haikui Zou

wuwei@mail.buct.edu.cn

Abstract

A simple in situ method was developed to synthesize polypyrrole (PPy)/TiO₂ nanocomposites having high photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light. The structure and morphology of the PPy/TiO₂ nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The visible light photocatalytic properties of the nanocomposites were demonstrated by Rhodamine B degradation and by the production of methanol from CO₂. The XRD analysis showed that the coating of PPy did not change the crystallinity of the TiO₂. The UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicated that the light adsorption range of the TiO₂ was enlarged after modification. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis confirmed the presence of PPy and TiO₂ in the nanocomposite catalyst. The RhB degradation using the nanocomposites was increased by 41% and the methanol yield was enhanced by 34 wt% in comparison with those obtained with pure TiO₂. The improvements were considered to originate from the increased separation efficiency of hole–electron pairs from TiO₂ and the enhancement of the light adsorption range by the introduced PPy.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

PPy/TiO₂; Polypyrrole (PPy); Nanocomposite; Photodegradation; Methanol