Synergistic performance of epoxy modified cellulose/polyaniline/ternary metal oxide nanocomposites

The conducting polymers and metal oxide-based nanocomposites (NCs) reported in the literature are non-biodegradable. We have synthesized cellulose/polyaniline/ternary metal oxide-based NCs which are environment-friendly and show multifunctional applications. Cellulose is a natural polymer. Polyaniline (PANI) is a synthetic polymer. Both natural and synthetic polymers were blended with ternary metal oxide NCs of Zn/Ni/CuO (ZNC). Epoxy-modified cellulose (EMC) was prepared. Sol-gel was used for producing ternary metal NCs, and a chemical oxidative process was used for PANI. Structural evaluation of EMC, PANI, and ZNC NCs was carried out by SEM, PXRD, Raman, FTIR, and UV–visible spectroscopy techniques. Photocatalytic, anticorrosive, electrical, and magnetic properties of PANI/EMC/ZNC NCs were investigated. The NCs show 85% degradation of Methyl Red dye in 180 min. PANI/EMC/ZNC NCs show 83.9% corrosion prevention efficiency for MS in 1.0 M H2SO4. The NCs show magnetic susceptibility (χ = 0.0714) in the paramagnetic region and an optical band gap of 2.3 eV. The PANI/EMC/ZNC NCs were proved to be very good photocatalytic, magnetic, electrical, and anticorrosive agents. [Display omitted] •Synthesized natural Cellulose, synthetic PANI, and Zn/Ni/CuO-based NCs.•Photocatalytic assessment shows an impressive 85% degradation of MRD.•Significant corrosion inhibition efficiency of 83.9% was achieved for MS in 1.0 M H2SO4.•Shown paramagnetic behavior with a magnetic susceptibility (χ) of 0.0714.•Biopolymers-based NCs proved to a versatile materials with promising applications.