Theoretical and experimental studies on DC conductivity and temperature-dependent AC conductivity of poly(butyl methacrylate)/Nd-TiO2 nanocomposites

Abstract

Electrically conductive nanocomposite system based on poly(butyl methacrylate) (PBMA) with different contents of neodymium-doped titanium dioxide (Nd-TiO2) was prepared by in situ free radical polymerization method. The effect of Nd-TiO2 on the morphology and structural properties of the composites was carried out by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The temperature-dependent AC conductivity and DC electrical conductivity of PBMA/Nd-TiO2 nanocomposites were studied with respect to the different volume fraction of Nd-TiO2 nanoparticles. SEM and XRD patterns revealed the uniform dispersion and structural regularity of nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. The AC conductivity of PBMA and its composites were found to be increased with an increase in temperatures and frequencies. The activation energy and exponential factor were analyzed from AC conductivity and both results indicate the hopping conduction mechanism present in PBMA/Nd-TiO2 nanocomposite, which is responsible for the variation of conductivity with temperature also. The DC conductivity of nanocomposites was higher than pure PBMA and the conductivity increases with increase in the concentration of Nd-TiO2 nanoparticles. Experimental and theoretical investigations based on McCullough, Bueche, Scarisbrick, and Mamunya modeling were carried out to observe the DC conductivity differences induced by the addition of Nd-TiO2 nanoparticles in PBMA matrix. Among the various modeling studied here, Mamunya model shows better agreement with the experimental conductivity.