Surface resistivity temperature dependence measures of commercial, multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), or silver nano-particle doped polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films

Abstract

The detection of infrared radiation (IR) with pure and doped Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) films has been well documented using the mechanism of pyroelectricity. Alternatively, the electrical properties of films made from Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) have received considerable attention in recent years. The investigation of surface resistivities of both such films, to this point, has received far less consideration in comparison to pyroelectric effects. In this research, we report temperature dependent surface resistivity measurements of commercial, and of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), or Ag-nanoparticle doped PVA films. Without any variation in the temperature range from 22°C to 40°C with controlled humidity, we found that the surface resistivity decreases initially, reaches a minimum, but rises steadily as the temperature continues to increase. This research was conducted with the combined instrumentation of the Keithley Model 6517 Electrometer and Keithley Model 8009 resistivity test fixture using both commercial and in-house produced organic thin films. With the objective to quantify the suitability of PVDF and PVA films as IR detector materials, when using the surface resistivity phenomenon, instead of or in addition to the pyroelectricity, surface resistivity measurements are reported when considering bolometry. We find the surface resistivity of PVDF films to be in the range, which extends beyond the upper limit of our Keithley electrometer, but our measurements on PVA films were readily implemented.