PANI/CoO Nanocomposite Films with Excellent Photocatalytic Performance for Real Textile Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Textile wastewater becomes the primary root of environmental pollution due to the rapid infection rates of freshwater, subsurface water, soil, and air. Due to the high absorption abilities of UV and visible light, polymer nanocomposite photocatalyst films (PNPFs) are recognized as potential candidates for textile wastewater treatment. Here, we developed novel cobalt monoxide (CoO)/polyaniline (PANI) PNPFs with high photocatalytic efficiency and stability. The photocatalytic efficiencies of PANI/CoO films were estimated utilizing the degradation of organic dyes and real-textile wastewater (RTW) under various lighting conditions. PANI/CoO PNPF completely decomposed methylene blue and RTW samples in 30 and 45 min under UV light illumination, respectively. We found that the CoO nanoparticles doubled the PANI's photocatalytic decomposition rate. However, under visible light irradiation, their photocatalytic efficiencies almost halved. Moreover, PANI/CoO PNPF exhibited excellent photocatalytic stability by maintaining the photocatalytic performance for up to five cycles with over 95% removal efficiency. This study yielded an efficient and alternative polymer nanocomposite to decompose wastewater sources contaminated with various textile dyes and may be examined for industrial-scale applications in the future.