Polyaniline modified mesoporous titanium dioxide that enhances oxo-biodegradation of polyethylene films for agricultural plastic mulch application

Mesoporous titanium dioxide (M-TiO2) nanoparticles were successfully prepared followed by chemical modification with different contents of polyaniline (PANI/M-TiO2) and were used to accelerate the photo-oxidation and biodegradation process of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. The influence of these additives as a pro-oxidant additive on the accelerated degradation of LDPE was investigated by photocatalytic oxidation under UV light irradiation and biodegradation with fungal strains. It was found that the as-prepared PANI modified M-TiO2 particles exhibited an obvious light response from 400 to 800 nm which can improve the utilization of solar light. Compared with M-TiO2, PANI/M-TiO2 exhibited better photocatalytic performance when irradiated under UV light and the subsequent biodegradation efficiency was enhanced. Enhancement of the photocatalytic performance of PANI/M-TiO2 could be attributed to good dispersibility and compatibility of PANI/M-TiO2 in the LDPE matrix, a narrow band gap, effective separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs and the chromophoric group of PANI which was used as a photosensitizer in the LDPE/PANI/M-TiO2 composite film. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry