Interaction of conducting polymers, polyaniline and polypyrrole, with organic dyes: polymer morphology control, dye adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition

Abstract

Conducting polymers, such as polyaniline and polypyrrole, have frequently been discussed in the literature due to ease of preparation and high application potential. These polymers have been observed to interact with organic dyes because of the similarity in the conjugated molecular structure of both moieties. The interaction manifests itself in three fundamental directions that have been so far treated separately. The first is represented by the conductivity enhancement and morphology control when using organic dyes as templates in polypyrrole preparation. The adsorption of dyes on conducting polymers is the second field oriented at the water pollution treatment. Finally, the photocatalytic decomposition of organic dyes aims at the similar environmental target. The last two applications do not require the presence of conductivity which, on the other hand, is a key parameter of conducting polymers. The future design of advanced adsorbents, however, has to exploit both the conductivity and electroactivity in the control of pollutant adsorption or degradation. For this reason, all these interactions and their practical impact are considered in the present review.