Synthesis, characterization and investigation of methyl orange dye removal from aqueous solutions using waterborne poly vinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) stabilized poly aniline (PANI) core–shell nanoparticles

Abstract

Waterborne polyaniline (PANI) core–shell nanoparticles were synthesized via chemical oxidation of aniline in aqueous acidic medium using polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) as stabilizer. The polymerization events, structure, texture, morphology and thermal degradation of the nanoparticles were investigated using UV-Visible spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, FESEM, HRTEM and TGA techniques. Cyclic voltammetric studies were conducted to investigate the redox properties and electrochemical stability of the nanoparticles. Removal of methyl orange from aqueous solutions was investigated using the nanoparticles under different operational constraints like adsorbent dosage, pH, temperature, contact time, selectivity and ionic interference. Adsorption followed the Langmuir isotherm model. The adsorbent surface was recovered through ultra-sonication in a water–ethanol mixture.