Synthesis of PANI/TiO₂–Fe³⁺ nanocomposite and its photocatalytic property

A convenient method for synthesizing highly photocatalytic activity PANI/TiO₂–Fe³⁺ nanocomposite was developed. The effect of calcination temperature on the phase composition of TiO₂ nanopowder was investigated. It was found that higher temperature could promote the formation of rutile phase. The nanocomposite was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that the nanohybrid was composed of TiO₂, Fe³⁺ and PANI. The photocatalytic property of the nanocomposite was evaluated by the degradation of methyl orange. In the presence of this catalyst, the degradation rate of methyl orange of 95.2% and 70.3% could be obtained under the UV and sunlight irradiation within 30 min, respectively. The apparent rate constant was 5.64 × 10⁻² which is better than that of the Degussa P25.