Synergistic effect of PANI and NiFe2O4 for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution under visible light

As an effective photocatalyst , PANI/NiFe 2 O 4 nanocomposite was prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline. The physicochemical properties of the composite were characterized by TEM, XRD , FT-IR spectra, UV–vis spectroscopy, XPS and Photoelectrochemical Measurements. Compared with NiFe 2 O 4 and PANI , PANI/NiFe 2 O 4 nanocomposite has a better photocatalytic activity, which exhibited the remarkable property of hydrogen production under visible light. The photocatalytic mechanism was also discussed. The heterojunction of PANI and NiFe 2 O 4 promoted the separation of photogenerated e − and h + on the surface of PANI/NiFe 2 O 4 . Besides, the structure of PANI/NiFe 2 O 4 in the polymerization was detected by FT-IR. NiFe 2 O 4 was proved that in favor of the formation of nucleate phenazine-like structure in the progress of in situ polymerization. Then the chain structure of conductive PANI was formed, which leading to the promotion of photocatalytic activity .