Abstract
The conversion of intermittent sunlight energy into low cost alternative fuel source is a great challenge in the recent years. Herein, a novel polyaniline/g-C3N4 heterojunctions containing (1-5) wt % polyaniline are successfully synthesized in ultrasonic bath of 250 W intensity. The change in the crystalline, textural, nanostructure, elemental compositions and optical properties of the nanocomposites are well elaborated by XRD, XPS, N-2-adsorption-desorption isotherm, DRS, HRTEM and PL. Polyaniline synthesized through oxidative polymerization in situ is successfully distributed in homogeneous population on graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets. Noticeably, incorporation of 3 wt% polyaniline on the g-C3N4 surface depresses the crystalline size and surface parameters, harvesting the visible light absorption and limiting the electron-hole recombination rate. 91% of bisphenol was decomposed on 0.1 g of photocatalyst containing 3 wt% polyaniline during 2 h of the photoreaction under sun simulator of intensity 300 W. The concentration of hydrogen gas evolved approach 4.43 mmolg(-1)h(-1) which is eleven fold higher than that of pristine g-C3N4. Superoxide radicals and electrons conduction band are responsible for decomposition of BPA into eco-friendly species. The transfer of photogenerated electrons in S-scheme polyaniline/g-C3N4 heterojunction is more like "Step" which associated by production of internal electric field at the interface boundary However, the postulated scheme reveals that the production of hydroxyl group is restricted on the surface of PAN/g-C3N4 nanocomposite.