Assessment of Polyaniline–Tin Oxide Nanocomposite as an Effective Dye Removal Nanocatalyst and Antimicrobial Agent

ABSTRACT Water pollution is a severe issue resulting in a negative impact on ecosystems and human health, particularly in developing and impoverished areas. This study adopts a simple reflux condensation process to synthesize the PANI‐SnO 2 nanocomposite in an environmentally friendly manner. Numerous methods, including FTIR, XRD, UV–Vis, FESEM, and TEM, have been used to characterize the crystalline PANI‐SnO 2 nanocomposite. This study demonstrates that Rhodamine B (RhB) can be broken down by this nanocomposite into non‐toxic components. When exposed to visible light, the synthesized nanocomposite is a more effective photocatalyst for RhB degradation owing to its 2.82 eV bandgap energy value. According to the microscopic investigations, SnO 2 NPs grown on the PANI surface are roughly 10–40 nm in size. The photoluminescence study's findings also clarified why the nanocomposite had a higher capacity for photocatalysis, and a photocatalytic mechanism could be realistically visualized. The antibacterial and cell viability studies were also carried out to determine the efficacy in destroying the bacterial strains.