Fabrication of kapok paper-zinc oxide-polyaniline hybrid nanocomposite for methyl orange removal

In this study, hydrophilic kapok papers (KP) with grammage of 60 g m(-2) were synthesized by treating naturally hydrophobic kapok fibers with chloroform and sodium chlorite. A hybrid nanocomposite consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO) and polyaniline (PANI) was successively deposited on the hand-made paper. SEM images show nano-size PANI and ZnO particles. XRD results revealed amorphous structure of the PANI with presence of peaks correlating to ZnO. FT-IR showed the change on kapok fibers upon chemical treatment and confirmed the presence of PANI on the synthesized paper. The ICP-ZnO-PANI nanocomposite was further applied to test the photocatalytic removal of methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution under UV irradiation. Results showed that the hybrid nanocomposite could be employed as an adsorbent of MO dye and was 10% more efficient when irradiated under UV light.