Abstract
Polyaniline (PANI)/Aluminium nanoparticles (AlNPs) nanocomposite films were designed and synthesized for optoelectronic applications. Structural, morphological, optical, electronic, and electrical properties of the PANI/AlNPs nanocomposite films were studied for various AlNPs concentrations. As AlNPs concentration increases from 0 to 32 wt% the bandgap energy decreases monoexponentially from 3.97 eV to 3.84 and the refractive index increases continuously from 1.53 to 1.63 at 550 nm. However, the monoexponential decay of the bandgap energy cannot describe the PANI/AlNPs films behaviour for AlNPs concentrations greater than 32 wt% due to AlNPs percolation. The electrical conductivity increases from 0.11 to 16.10 μS cm−1 in the above AlNPs range, being the trend fitted to a sigmoidal function, which passes through three regions: insulating, percolation, and electrical conductive zones. AlNPs are homogeneously distributed in PANI/AlNPs nanocomposite films as spherical particles; however, for AlNPs concentrations higher than 32 wt%, AlNPs distribute as continuous aggregations in the polymer matrix.
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