Synthesis of polypyrrole nanoparticles by microemulsion polymerization for photocatalysis

Abstract

The photocatalytic properties of polypyrrole nanoparticles prepared by W/O microemulsion method were reported. During the photodegradation of Orange II and Methyl Orange as organic dyes in UV/H₂O₂ and UV irradiation systems using polypyrrole nanoparticles as photocatalyst, the latter performances special photocatalytic activity towards to above dyes in both UV and UV/H₂O₂ system. In detail, its photocatalytic activity is 5.17 and 4.82 times higher than normal polypyrrole composites in UV/Orange II and UV/MO system relatively. The size of polypyrrole nanoparticles characterized by TEM is 200–400 nm with good dispersity. The further measurement by accelerated surface area and porosimetry system shows such nanoparticles have a specific surface area of 1.47 m²/g compared to normal polypyrrole of 0.22 m²/g. This conjugated polymer characterized by FTIR spectroscopies before and after photocatalytic reactions shows reliable chemical stability. In addition, it holds excellent recovery ability and keeps up their catalytic activity within distinctive drop after six repeated utilization.

Keywords

polypyrrole / conjugated polymer / microemulsion / photocatalyst

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