Preparation of pompon-like ZnO-PANI heterostructure and its applications for the treatment of typical water pollutants under visible light.

Until now, the treatment of multiple water pollutants by using one simple material has still been a challenge. Pompon-like ZnO-Polyaniline heterostructures with different content of Polyaniline as out-layer were synthesized by hydrothermal method and hybridization. Their several applications were subsequently investigated for water pollutants treatment including photo-degradation of organic pollutants, photo-induced adsorption of heavy metal ions (Hg(II), Cr(VI)) and inactivation of Pathogenic bacteria (E. coli bacteria and staphylococcus aureus) under visible light. The results indicate that the aforementioned pollutants can be effectively removed by Pompon-like ZnO-Polyaniline heterostructure. The enhanced photochemical performance is attributed to: (1) the improved monodispersity and relative large specific surface area of pompon-like ZnO-PANI enhance the production of photo-induced OH and O2 - ; (2) the high separation efficiency of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, which comes from the synergistic effect of P-N type heterojunction.