Abstract
A set of zinc oxide (ZnO)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing presynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in different weight percentages with solution casting technique.Different characterization methods are carried out to determine the material properties. The effects of ZnO nanoparticles loading level on electrical properties of the nanocomposites were investigated in details. The intermolecular interactions within the polymer nanocomposites were explored by FTIR and XRD. The formation of nanocomposites and changes were investigated by SEM analysis.It showed that ZnO nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed throughout the whole polymeric matrix. DC conductivity was measured in the temperature range 70-300K and it obeys Arrhenius relation. Activation energies were evaluated from Arrhenius plots for all compositions. The samples show a semiconductor-like behavior in regions I (300-130 K) and II (130-70K).The activation energies are smaller at lower temperature range as compared to higher temperature range. The change in conduction mechanism arises at different temperatures, which are feature of the samples. As the ratio of ZnO to polymer changes these switching positions are shifted to upper temperatures. All the composites obey the Arrhenius equation for the conductivity mechanism which confirms that the nanocomposites are thermally activated. The dc conductivity of all the samples follows a simple hoping type of charge conduction method. This is evident from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) studies.
Highlights
In the past two decades nanocomposites have become one of the most broadly studied materials due to their remarkable properties and wide range of applications
The average aggregate size of zinc oxide nanoparticles using TEM were estimated to be ~3 to 5 nm, which can be found from our previous study [6]
The structural changes of polymer nanocomposites using XRD studies were investigated. It confirmed that the particles in the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix were zinc oxide nanoparticles .The crystallinity of PVA was substantially influenced by the presence of ZnO in the nanocomposites
Summary
In the past two decades nanocomposites have become one of the most broadly studied materials due to their remarkable properties and wide range of applications. Polymer nanocomposites have received much interest due to their wide range of potential applications.The development in electrical properties of polymer nanocomposites for diversity of electrical applications have been greatly studied in the past [1-5].The existence of nanofillers in polymer matrix develops and controls the electrical, optical and other properties of the material by its size, morphology and loading concentration. Zinc oxide nanoparticles incorporated into the PVA matrix can change or recover the morphological and electrical properties [4]. The temperature dependent dc conductivity studies of zinc oxide/polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposites dispersed with different weight percentages of nano-sized ZnO have been reported
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
