SHI irradiation effects on electrical and optical properties of PPy–SnO₂ nanocomposite

Abstract

Abstract The films of polypyrrole–tin oxide (PPy–SnO 2 ) nanocomposites were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization technique. These films were irradiated with 90‐MeV O 7+ ions at the fluences of 5 × 10 10 , 1 × 10 11 , 5 × 10 11 , and 1 × 10 12 ions/cm 2 . X‐ray diffraction studies show that microstrain and domain crystallite size of SnO 2 nanoparticles in PPy matrix increase with the increase of ion fluence, resulting in highly ordered PPy–SnO 2 nanocomposites. TGA analysis shows that the SnO 2 nanoparticles inhibit the degradation of PPy, thereby enhancing the thermal stability of the PPy–SnO 2 nanocomposites. DC electrical conductivity is found to increase with the increase of fluence and conduction mechanism follows a one‐dimensional variable‐range hopping model. AC electrical conductivity also increases with the increase of ion fluence and obeys correlated barrier‐hopping model. I–V characteristics of the PPy–SnO 2 nanocomposites exhibit Schottky barrier formation at the PPy/SnO 2 interface. The photoluminescence intensity of the PPy–SnO 2 nanocomposite increases with the increase of ion fluence, which can be attributed to the thermal detrapping of charge carriers owing to the enormous energy transfer during swift, heavy‐ion irradiation.