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International Journal of Photoenergy
Volume 2007, Article ID 98548, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2007/98548
Research Article

Stannic Oxide-Titanium Dioxide Coupled Semiconductor Photocatalyst Loaded with Polyaniline for Enhanced Photocatalytic Oxidation of 1-Octene

Hadi Nur, Izan Izwan Misnon, and Lim Kheng Wei

Ibnu Sina Institute for Fundamental Science Studies, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor 81310 UTM, Malaysia

Received 12 March 2007; Accepted 4 June 2007

Academic Editor: Hisao Hidaka

Copyright © 2007 Hadi Nur et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Stannic oxide-titanium dioxide (SnO2–TiO2) coupled semiconductor photocatalyst loaded with polyaniline (PANI), a conducting polymer, possesses a high photocatalytic activity in oxidation of 1-octene to 1,2-epoxyoctane with aqueous hydrogen peroxide. The photocatalyst was prepared by impregnation of SnO2 and followed by attachment of PANI onto a TiO2 powder to give sample PANI-SnO2–TiO2. The electrical conductivity of the system becomes high in the presence of PANI. Enhanced photocatalytic activity was observed in the case of PANI-SnO2–TiO2 compared to PANI-TiO2, SnO2–TiO2, and TiO2. A higher photocatalytic activity in the oxidation of 1-octene on PANI-SnO2–TiO2 than SnO2–TiO2, PANI-TiO2, and TiO2 can be considered as an evidence of enhanced charge separation of PANI-SnO2–TiO2 photocatalyst as confirmed by photoluminescence spectroscopy. It suggests that photoinjected electrons are tunneled from TiO2 to SnO2 and then to PANI in order to allow wider separation of excited carriers.