Chitosan-ZnO Nanocomposites Assessed by Dielectric, Mechanical, and Piezoelectric Properties.

José Martín Yáñez Limón,Yuriy Kovalenko,Gabriel Luna-Bárcenas,Alejandro Gómez Sánchez,Evgen Prokhorov

doi:10.3390/polym12091991

José Martín Yáñez Limón, Yuriy Kovalenko + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12091991

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Abstract

The aim of this work is to structurally characterize chitosan-zinc oxide nanoparticles (CS-ZnO NPs) films in a wide range of NPs concentration (0–20 wt.%). Dielectric, conductivity, mechanical, and piezoelectric properties are assessed by using thermogravimetry, FTIR, XRD, mechanical, and dielectric spectroscopy measurements. These analyses reveal that the dielectric constant, Young’s modulus, and piezoelectric constant (d33) exhibit a strong dependence on nanoparticle concentration such that maximum values of referred properties are obtained at 15 wt.% of ZnO NPs. The piezoelectric coefficient d33 in CS-ZnO nanocomposite films with 15 wt.% of NPs (d33 = 65.9 pC/N) is higher than most of polymer-ZnO nanocomposites because of the synergistic effect of piezoelectricity of NPs, elastic properties of CS, and optimum NPs concentration. A three-phase model is used to include the chitosan matrix, ZnO NPs, and interfacial layer with dielectric constant higher than that of neat chitosan and ZnO. This layer between nanoparticles and matrix is due to strong interactions between chitosan’s side groups with ZnO NPs. The understanding of nanoscale properties of CS-ZnO nanocomposites is important in the development of biocompatible sensors, actuators, nanogenerators for flexible electronics and biomedical applications.

Highlights

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are one of the most attractive materials due to their unique optical, piezoelectric, mechanical, and antibacterial properties
There were published significant publications about the potential use of ZnO-NPs that include flexible devices such as supercapacitance [4], flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators with ZnO-polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) [5,6], piezoelectric vibration sensors based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and ZnO nanoparticle [7], soft thermoplastic material with polyurethane matrix [8], poly and poly blend matrix incorporated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles for optoelectronic and microelectronic devices [9], gate transistors with
The peaks observed in ZnO NPs and CS-ZnO films were in good agreement with the database of hexagonal ZnO particles (JCPDS No 36-1451) and the results are reported in refs. [15,19,23]

Summary

Introduction

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) are one of the most attractive materials due to their unique optical, piezoelectric, mechanical, and antibacterial properties. There were published significant publications about the potential use of ZnO-NPs that include flexible devices such as supercapacitance [4], flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators with ZnO-polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) [5,6], piezoelectric vibration sensors based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and ZnO nanoparticle [7], soft thermoplastic material with polyurethane matrix [8], poly (ethylene oxide) and poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) blend matrix incorporated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles for optoelectronic and microelectronic devices [9], gate transistors with. Based upon the above information, chitosan-based nanocomposites offer significant scientific and technological potential. In this regard, chitosan (CS), a polysaccharide obtained from the deacetylation of chitin, is a natural polymer with high absorption capacity, biodegradability, biocompatibility with antibacterial features. Chitosan is a hydrophilic polymer with NH2 and OH side

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