Eco-friendly biopolymer/clay/conducting polymer nanocomposite: Characterization and its application in reactive dye removal

In this study starch-montmorillonite/polyaniline (St-MMT/PANI) nanocomposite was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of starch-montmorillonite nanocomposite dispersion. The prepared ternary nanocomposite was characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TGA and TEM techniques. XRD patterns combined with TEM results confirmed the intercalation of MMT in the starch matrix. SEM micrographs revealed the growth of polyaniline over the surface of the St-MMT nanocomposite. The St-MMT/PANI nanocomposite was used for the adsorption of a reactive dye. Batch removal experiment results showed complete removal of dye in a very short contact time. Further investigations indicated that the removal mechanism was based on both the adsorption and electrostatic attraction between nanocomposite and dye molecules. The experimental data were well fitted to the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption capacity of reactive dye on St-MMT/PANI nanocomposite was 91.74 mg g−1. All these results demonstrated the effectiveness of the hybrid system as an efficient adsorbent for removal of reactive dyes from textile effluents.