A new ZnO/rGO/polyaniline ternary nanocomposite as photocatalyst with improved photocatalytic activity

•A new ZnO/rGO/polyaniline ternary nanocomposite was synthesized.•rGO in ternary composite could reduce the recombination of electron-hole pairs.•Polyaniline could increase adsorption characteristics of the ternary composite.•ZnO/rGO/polyaniline photocatalyst showed an enhancement photocatalytic performance.

ZnO as a promising photocatalyst has gained much attention for the removal of organic pollutants from water. However, the main drawbacks of the relatively low photocatalytic activity and high recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs restrict its potential applications. Herein, a ternary ZnO/reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/polyanline (PANI) nanocomposite has been synthesized and used as the photocatalyst, characterized by TEM, SEM, X-Ray diffraction, FTIR and Raman. The ZnO/rGO(7 wt.%)/PANI(10 wt.%) photocatalyst shows an enhanced photocatalytic performance for the photodegradation of methyl orange with a maximum degradation efficiency of almost 100% within 60 min under UV light irradiation compared to pure ZnO (15%). This improvement is attributed to the rGO which effectively improves the ability to transfer the photoexcited electrons and the specific surface area of material, the PANI which increases the absorption of light and adsorption of dyes, and the synergistic effect among ZnO, rGO and PANI.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide