WO3 nanoplates decorated with polyaniline and CdS nanoparticles as a new photocatalyst for degradation of imidacloprid pesticide from water.

This study focused on the photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid (IM) in water as the model pesticides. The effective division of photogenerated charge carriers is important in the photocatalytic reactions. So, a new PANI/WO3-CdS photocatalyst was synthesized by a simple method. The prepared PANI/WO3-CdS nanocomposite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy compatible with energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM-EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Degradation of IM pesticide under visible light irradiation was carried out to investigate the photocatalytic efficiency of the prepared nanocomposite. The effect of operational parameters on the degradation performance of pesticides was studied by response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum conditions for photocatalytic degradation of IM (94.7%) were found to be 10 ppm of IM, 150 mg of PANI/WO3-CdS, and pH = 3.0. The apparent rate constant of IM photodegradation over PANI/WO3-CdS was 0.016 min-1. According to results, PANI/WO3-CdS can serve as an efficient, and recyclable photocatalyst for imidacloprid degradation in an aqueous media.