A probe into the effect of fixing the titanium dioxide by a conductive polymer and ceramic on the photocatalytic activity for degradation of organic pollutants

Ceramic-type nanocomposite of titanium dioxide modified by polymer (n-TiO2/C/PANI) in which C = SiO2/Fe2O3/ZrO2 and PANI = polyaniline was successfully prepared, having high activity. The morphology, structure and light absorption properties of the present nanocomposite for removal of methylene blue (MB) and crystal violet (CV) were investigated and compared with ceramic-type titanium dioxide (n-TiO2/C) and TiO2 nanoparticles. FT-IR, UV-vis, XRD, SEM, EDX, BET and TEM techniques were used in order to characterize the nanocomposites. Also, photocatalytic properties of n-TiO2/C/PANI nanocomposite under visible light irradiation were studied and compared with ceramic-type titanium dioxide (n-TiO2/C) and TiO2 nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activity of this nanocomposite is related to the ceramic substrate and polyaniline due to increasing the surface area, porous structure and also electron transfer from titanium to the polyaniline which enhances the oxidizing ability of the TiO2. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.