Synthesis of polyaniline decorated with ZnO and CoMoO4 nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of imidacloprid pesticide under visible light

Abstract Structural design in a semiconductor photocatalyst is significant to improve the photocatalytic efficiency to solve current energy or environmental problems. In this study, we developed a Z-scheme photocatalyst system consisting of PANI/ZnO-CoMoO4 for degradation photocatalytic processes. The structural composition and morphologies of the PANI/ZnO-CoMoO4 nanocomposite were analyzed by FTIR, FESEM-EDS, and XRD techniques. Subsequently, the pesticide-degradation experiments were performed for the degradation of imidacloprid (IM) using as-synthesized PANI/ZnO-CoMoO4 nanocomposite under visible-light irradiation to investigate its photocatalytic activity. The influence of PANI/ZnO-CoMoO4 amount, pH, and IM concentration on the performance of the degradation reaction has been considered by the experimental design. Under optimal conditions (4.5 ppm of IM, pH = 4, and 163.5 mg photocatalyst), about 97% of the IM was degraded within 180 min of irradiation. The prepared photocatalyst can be readily recovered and reutilized with the centrifugation process.