Green chemistry: Alternative and sustainable route to prepare the Pani-magnetite composite

Abstract

Cleaner chemical procedures, with low waste generation, less consumption of raw materials and energy, has been a critical challenge towards the development of technologically sophisticated materials or devices, including electrochemical sensors, adsorbents of environmental contaminants or electronic capacitors. This study was devoted to the development of an alternative synthetic route to obtain a composite based on polyaniline (Pani) and magnetite. The synthetic route was also considered from an economical perspective, under the green chemistry principles, to show how environmentally sustainable and economically interesting this new material can be. An analysis of production costs was also carried out. The composite presents spectroscopic, structural, and morphological characteristics of a Pani-Fe3O4 composite, well evidenced from X-ray diffractometry and magnetic measurement data. The magnetization value at the non-saturating field B = 20 kOe is 1.57 emu g-1 is potentially suitable for applications in electrochemical devices, adsorption of ionic contaminants or capacitors. Constructing the metric tables for the synthesis, according to the Green Star criteria, to classify all the chemical substances, regarding their risks to the environment, human health, and physical risks, led to an IPE star fill index of 60 %, which complies with the safety principles and indicates which aspects are still open to further improve this synthetic route.