Synthesis of PANI@ZnO Hybrid Material and Evaluations in Adsorption of Congo Red and Methylene Blue Dyes: Structural Characterization and Adsorption Performance

Abstract In this research, a simple oxidation chemical process was applied for the synthesis of novel PANI@ZnO nanocomposite. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by XPS, XRD, FTIR, SEM, TGA and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. Thereby, PANI@ZnO highest SBET values (about 40.84 m2.g− 1), total mesoporous volume (about 3.214 cm3.g− 1) and average pore size (about 46.12 nm). Afterwards, the prepared nanomaterial was applied as novel nanoadsorbent for the adsorption of Congo Red (CR) and Methylene Blue (MB) dyes from aqueous solutions at 298 K and pH 5.0. Besides, the pseudo-second-order model was obtained the best for the adsorption of both dyes. In the case of isotherm models, the Freundlich model showed the best fit. After removal, the spent adsorbent was regenerated. With the regeneration repeated five cycles, the PANI@ZnO regeneration efficiency remained at a very adequate level.