Polyaniline-decorated cellulose aerogel nanocomposite with strong interfacial adhesion and enhanced photocatalytic activity

Cellulose aerogel has attracted considerable attention due to its high surface area and the added advantages of being cost-effective and environmentally benign. It has been applied as supporting material for noble metal nanoparticle catalysts to prevent their agglomeration. In this paper, we have demonstrated a facile method to prepare polyaniline (PANI)-decorated cellulose aerogel via a dissolve/regeneration route using ionic liquid as solvent. Cellulose aerogel acted as a supporting material for PANI nanoparticles to prevent their agglomeration as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The strong interfacial interaction between PANI and cellulose aerogel was verified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. PANI-cellulose aerogel exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity towards the degradation of methylene blue. The degradation efficiency reached 95% after 2 h. The approach promotes the use of renewable natural resources to prepare a variety of nanofibrillated cellulose-supported nanocomposites for catalysis, sensors, and other potential applications.