Abstract
The effects of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) concentration on the structural, optical and electrical properties of conjugated polymer-carbon nanotube composite are discussed. Multi-walled carbon nanotube-polypyrrole nanocomposites were synthesized by electrochemical polymerization of monomers in the presence of different amounts of MWNTs using sodium dodecylbenzensulfonate (SDBS) as surfactant at room temperature and normal pressure. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) indicates that the polymer is wrapped around the nanotubes. Measurement of the nonlinear refractive indices (n2) and the nonlinear absorption (β) of the samples with different MWNT concentrations measurements were performed by a single Z-scan method using continuous wave (CW) laser beam excitation wavelength of λ = 532 nm. The results show that both nonlinear optical parameters increased with increasing the concentration of MWNTs. The third order nonlinear susceptibilities were also calculated and found to follow the same trend as n2 and β. In addition, the conductivity of the composite film was found to increase rapidly with the increase in the MWNT concentration.
Highlights
Conducting polymers are suitable alternative to replace metals in industry as they have the ability to withstand high electric fields with good environment stability and low cost of fabrication
This work focuses on the combination of the properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and polypyrrole following an electrochemical method to the formation of the nanocomposite
A large number of papers have been published on the synthesis and characterization of Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and PPy nanocomposite films [20,21] but to our knowledge there are a few reports on the nonlinear optical properties of the PPy/CNT nanocomposite
Summary
Conducting polymers are suitable alternative to replace metals in industry as they have the ability to withstand high electric fields with good environment stability and low cost of fabrication. Polypyrrole (PPy) is a well-known conducting polymer, that has been studied by many researchers [1,2] It is most frequently used in various device applications, such as in sensors [3,4] microelectronic devices [5] and composite materials [6,7]. This work focuses on the combination of the properties of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) and polypyrrole following an electrochemical method to the formation of the nanocomposite. Both conducting polymers and CNTs have conjugated π bonds structure. We have investigated the structural, optical and electrical properties of the conducting polymer, polypyrrole and MWNT composite films prepared using electrodeposition. A large number of papers have been published on the synthesis and characterization of CNT and PPy nanocomposite films [20,21] but to our knowledge there are a few reports on the nonlinear optical properties of the PPy/CNT nanocomposite
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