Facile two-step synthesis of nanofiber polyaniline/graphene/cuprous oxide composite with enhanced photocatalytic performance

The ternary composites polyaniline/graphene/cuprous oxide (P/G/C) with different proportion of P/G were successfully prepared by a two-step facile method for photocatalytic degradation of dye, and the binary composites P/G, P/C, G/C were also synthesized as a comparison to explore the catalytic mechanism. The prepared fibrous polyaniline uniformly attaches to the surface of graphene oxide, and forms a heterostructure with the truncated cubic cuprous oxide which is subsequently grown on the surface, the doping concentration of polyaniline is estimated to be 7% according to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The light absorption of all the ternary composites is strengthened, the carrier recombination is also suppressed and their photocatalytic performance can be enhanced up to 2.6 times compared with the binaries. It is deduced that the enhanced degradation efficiency derived from the establishment of a heterostructure between cuprous oxide and polyaniline to transfer carriers, besides, the improved adsorption capacity provided by graphene oxide and fibrous polyaniline also play an indispensable part in degradation. The operating mechanism of the photocatalyst has been investigated to be composed of adsorption and degradation, the specific processes are discussed in detail. .