An energy efficient photocatalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

An energy efficient (EEO value 80 kWh/m3) method for photocatalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) by using TiO2-Polyaniline (TiO2-PANI) composite in presence of visible light is presented in this article. Reduction of 4-NP in presence of a well known reducing agent NaBH4 is inert in aqueous suspensions. Here we observed the high adsorptive and electron conducting capacity of TiO2-PANI favors the reduction of 4-NP to 4-AP. Steady drop off in the absorbance at 400 nm monitored over UV–vis spectrophotometer confirms the decrease in the concentration of 4-NP. Prepared catalyst found to be highly efficient in the reduction of 4-NP under visible light irradiation.