Influence of NiCo2O4/PbS nanocomposite on the structural, optical and electrical properties of Polymethyl Methacrylate polymer

Abstract

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/(1-x)NiCo2O4/xPbS polymers were prepared using the casting hydrothermal and solid state reaction methods. The different phases formed in (1-x)NiCo2O4/xPbS nanocomposites were determined using the X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. XRD and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to explore the structure and morphology of the formed polymers. The influence of (1-x)NiCo2O4/xPbS nanocomposite doping on the absorption, transmission, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, refractive index, nonlinear optical parameters and fluorescence spectra of PMMA polymer was explored using diffused reflectance and fluorescence spectrophotometer techniques. The direct and indirect optical band gap (Eg) values decreased from (5.31 and 5.06) eV (for undoped PMMA) to (4.66 and 4.17) eV (for doped PMMA with x = 0.1 filler), respectively. Several models based on the Eg value were used to find out the value of the refractive index of different polymers. The impact of doping on the dielectric constant, relaxation time, energy density, electrical conductivity and electric modulus of the PMMA polymer was also studied using an LCR meter.