Photocatalytic activity of polypyrrole/zinc oxide nanocomposites

U ovom je radu istražena fotokatalitička aktivnost sintetiziranih kompozita vodljivog polimera polipirola i cinkovog oksida (PPy/ZnO). Cilj rada bio je ispitati fotokatalitičku aktivnost kompozita PPy/ZnO pod ultraljubičastim (UV) te simuliranim Sunčevim zračenjem pri razgradnji azo-bojila Reactive Red 45 u otpadnim vodama. Uzorci su pripremljeni polimerizacijom iz monomera pirola (Py) u prisustvu cinkovog oksida te oksidansa željezova (III) klorida (FeCl3); uz molarni omjer monomera i oksidansa 1:1 te različito vrijeme sinteze (90, 180 i 270 minuta). Istraživani uzorci okarakterizirani su infracrvenom spektroskopijom s Fourierovom transformacijom (FTIR) i UV/Vis spektroskopijom. Efikasnost fotokatalitičke razgradnje organskog azo bojila (Reactive Red 45), odnosno stupanj njegova uklanjanja iz vodene otopine, praćena je mjerenjem apsorbancije UV/Vis spektroskopijom. Fotokatalizator PPy/ZnO 90 min pokazao je visoku učinkovitost razgradnje bojila pri UV-A zračenju dok je pod djelovanjem Sunčevog zračenja njegova učinkovitost niska.This work studies the photocatalytic activity of synthesized conductive polymer polypyrrole/zinc oxide nanocomposites (PPy/ZnO). The aim of this study was to examine the photocatalytic activity of composites PPy/ZnO under ultraviolet (UV) and simulated solar radiation in a degradation process of azo dye Reactive Red 45 in the wastewater. The composite samples were prepared during a polymerization process of monomer polypyrrole (PPy) in the presence of zinc oxide (ZnO) and oxidant iron(III) chloride (FeCl3) where the concentration ratio of monomer:oxidant was 1:1 and the duration of synthesis was 90, 180 and 270 min. The samples were characterized by infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transformation (FTIR) and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The efficiency of decomposition of organic azo dye (Reactive Red 45), i.e. the extent of its removal from aqueous solution, was monitored by measuring the absorbance by UV/Vis spectroscopy. Photocatalyst PPy/ZnO 90 min showed very high efficiency under UV-A radiation while its efficiency is low under the solar radiation