Reduced Graphene Oxide Supported TiO2 and P(ANI‐co‐IN) Nanocomposite for Environmental Remediation: Degradation of Dye Pollutants from Toxic Rhodamine B

AbstractEnvironmental remediation projects are becoming increasingly interested in polymers, transition‐metal oxides and graphene based nanocomposites as photocatalysts. To increase their effectiveness, they could be adjusted in conjunction with one another. A hierarchically organised nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide based TiO2 and copolymer (Aniline and Indole) (rGO/ TiO2/P(ANI‐co‐IN)), TiO2/P(ANI‐co‐IN) and P(ANI‐co‐IN) has been synthesized by heterogeneous emulsion polymerization and is used as a catalyst for the degradation of the cationic Rhodamine (RhB) dye. Different analyses were used to characterize the resulting nanocomposites i. e. UV‐Vis diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X‐Ray Spectroscopy (EDX), High Resolution Transmission electron microscopy (HR‐TEM), Selected area (electron) diffraction (SAED) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). DRS results revealed that the rGO/ TiO2/ P(ANI‐co‐IN) nanocomposites band gap decreased when compared to TiO2/P(ANI‐co‐IN) and P(ANI‐co‐IN). Here, rGO/ TiO2/P(ANI‐co‐IN) has outperformed every previous study on polymer/metal oxide/graphene‐based ternary nanocomposites, achieving 92 % RhB degradation within 80 min with a degradation rate constant of 0.032 min−1. The reusability of rGO/ TiO2/P(ANI‐co‐IN) was run over five cycles which bought in only a small change which could be negligible. Overall, this research may make it easier to synthesise hierarchically organised ternary nanocomposites in the future, which might be used to improve photocatalysis and address environmental protection challenges.