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

As an effective photocatalyst, PANI/NiFe₂O₄ 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 NiFe₂O₄ and PANI, PANI/NiFe₂O₄ 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 NiFe₂O₄ promoted the separation of photogenerated e^? and h⁺ on the surface of PANI/NiFe₂O₄. Besides, the structure of PANI/NiFe₂O₄ in the polymerization was detected by FT-IR. NiFe₂O₄ 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.