Electrochemical Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide–Wrapped Polyaniline Nanorods for Improved Photocatalytic and Antibacterial Activities

This study depicts the electrochemical synthesis of nanocomposites based on polyaniline nanorods (NRs) wrap with reduced graphene oxide (PANI–rGO) on ITO substrates for photocurrent generation, photodegradation, and antibacterial applications. The synthesis of PANI–rGO nanocomposites was elaborated by the incorporation of rGO into PANI thin films during electropolymerization in the presence of sulfuric acid. The synthesis of rGO was done by modification on the well-known Hammer’s method. The thin film nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV–Visible and electrochemical photocurrent spectroscopy. FESEM revealed the formation of PANI NRs with diameters of between 50 and 150 nm. The XPS was employed to confirm the compositions of the PANI–rGO nanocomposites. From photoelectrochemical results, the generated photocurrent was improved in the presence of rGO in PANI NRs. Whereas experimental findings show that the introduction of rGO into PANI improved the photoresponse from 7 to 13 µA cm −2 . Integration of 3D rGO into PANI results in better photocatalytic performance for the degradation of Congo red (CR). The enhanced photocatalytic activity with the presence of rGO revealed the good potential of PANI-GO nanocomposites for dye degradation. The effective removal of CR of up to 90% has been observed in an acidic medium and is acceptable compared to the surface area of the substrate. At optimum conditions, also the nature of the antibacterial activities has been investigated by ITO/PANI and ITO/PANI–rGO thin films, and the results have shown exhibited antibacterial activity against the growth of E . coli gram-negative bacteria. Graphical Abstract