Synthesis of the SWCNTs/TiO2 nanostructure and its effect study on the thermal, optical, and conductivity properties of the CMC/PEO blend

Abstract

The TiO2 NPs have been successfully synthesized by sol-gel method and the SWCNTs/TiO2 nanostructures have been fabricated by a simple mixing technique. By a solution casting process, pure CMC/PEO and SWCNTs/TiO2 nanohybrid doped CMC/PEO polymer blend films have been prepared. The influence of SWCNTs/TiO2 nanohybrid loading on the thermal, optical, and conductivity properties of the polymer blend has been discussed. The XRD pattern shows that the average crystallite size of the nanoparticles for TiO2 and SWCNTs/TiO2 is 20 nm and 15 nm, respectively, and a change in crystallinity was observed with an increase in doping. The interaction between CMC/PEO chains and SWCNTs/TiO2 nanohybrid is confirmed by FTIR spectra. The optical absorption spectrum shows that the energy gap reduces with the dopant increase. The miscibility between the CMC and PEO was confirmed by DSC thermograms. With an increase in dopant content, the TGA study demonstrates that the system's thermal stability improves. The maximum value of the blend's AC conductivity is 4.77 10−6 S/m, and by increasing the loading of SWCNTs/TiO2 to 3.2 (wt%) increased to 9.23 10−4 S/m. The conduction mechanism changed with SWCNTs/TiO2 loading from the correlated barrier hopping, in the prepared samples. Usage of these nanocomposite films in the semiconductor industry is encouraged by the observed improvements in optical, thermal, and AC conductivity.