Synthesis and characterization of nylon/TiO2 hybrid membrane for improving the electrical conductivity and activation energy

Abstract

Hybrid membrane based on Nylon/with (0, 0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 7) wt.% TiO2 were synthesized by a sol-gel method. The presence of TiO2 in the developed membrane possesses some effect on the spectral analysis as observed via FTTR spectroscopy. As interpreted from XRD analysis, nylon/TiO2 hybrid membrane showed a weakening of the peak intensity of the crystalline nylon and increased intensity of TiO2 crystals gradually with the addition of TiO2. Tt is indicating an increase in the amorphous phase of nylon. Hybrid membrane show enhancing the electrical conductivity by increasing TiO2 concentration, from (1.24 x 10−5 S/cm) for pure nylon to (1.94 x 10−5 S/cm) for 5 wt.% TiO2. Meanwhile, the activation energy decreased with increasing the TiO2 concentration, the activation energy was (0.1103, 0.1064, 0,1055, 0.1034, 0.1025, 0.1082) eV for (pure nylon, Nylon/0.5, 1, 3, 5 and 7 wt.% TiO2). This study points out that the optimum TiO2 concentration into polymer blend in the hybrid membrane is 5 wt.%.