Efficient photocatalytic removal of safarnin-O dye pollutants from water under sunlight using synthetic bentonite/polyaniline@NiO photocatalyst of enhanced properties.

This study involves a synthesis of bentonite/polyaniline composite (BE/PANI) of enhanced physicochemical properties as catalyst support for NiO photocatalyst. The change in the structural properties, morphological features, and optical behavior was addressed utilizing several analytic techniques. The characterization results reflected considerable enhancement in the specific surface area after the integration between bentonite and polyaniline (127 m/g) and after loading of the campsite by NiO forming bentonite/polyaniline@NiO composite (BE/PANI@NiO) (231 m/g). Additionally, the band gap energy was reduced to 2.41 eV and 1.61 eV for BE/PANI and BE/PANI@NiO, respectively, as compared to that of 3.4 eV for pure NiO. The photocatalytic removal of safranin-O dye under sunlight exposure using BE/PANI@NiO as catalyst revealed great enhancement in the removal percentages by 63%, 75%, and 72.35% higher than bentonite, polyaniline, and NiO, respectively. Five milligrams per liter of safranin-O dye can be completely removed from 100 ml water using 0.05 g of the composite after 90 min. The catalyst also was applied effectively in the removal of safranin-O dye from raw water samples as a realistic application of the synthetic composite. Synthetic BE/PANI@NiO as photocatalyst showed very high stability and can be used seven times as photocatalytic at amazing removal percentages.