Investigation of the structural and optical properties of Sb2S3/PVA/PVP nanocomposites blended sheets for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

Abstract Sb 2 S 3 chalcogenide Nanopowder was prepared at low temperatures using the chemical co-precipitation method. PVA/PVP polymeric sheets have been prepared with a constant ratio of 2:1 as a host matrix to incorporate Sb 2 S 3 NPS with a ratio of 0, 1, 3, and 5 wt% via solution casting technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern revealed that the prepared Sb 2 S 3 powder belongs to an orthorhombic crystalline structure as a major phase, with a crystal size of 24 nm. The microstructure of the powder as well as 5 wt% Sb 2 S 3 /PVA/PVP was investigated using the transmission electron microscope. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of the prepared sheets revealed the success of the interaction between the filler Sb 2 S 3 material with the PVA/PVP as a polymer host matrix. The transmission and reflection spectra of the polymeric Sb 2 S 3 /PVA/PVP sheets measured in the wavelength range 200–2500 nm have been used to calculate the optical band gap energy and refractive index as a function in the Sb 2 S 3 wt%. The Tauc model and the absorption spectrum fitting model were employed to accurately determine the variation of the optical band gap value with Sb 2 S 3 filler percent. Wemple-DiDomenico single-oscillator and Spitzer-Fan, models were applied to analyze the refractive index as a function of the Sb 2 S 3 filling wt%, whereby the dispersion parameters, $${E}_{d},{E}_{o}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> <mml:mi>d</mml:mi> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>E</mml:mi> <mml:mi>o</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> as well as the optical high-frequency dielectric constant, $${\varepsilon }_{L}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>ε</mml:mi> <mml:mi>L</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> carrier concentration to the effective mass ratio, $$N/{m}^{*}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>N</mml:mi> <mml:mo>/</mml:mo> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>m</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mrow/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> were evaluated. A graphical representation of the optical conductivity was also present. The obtained data indicate the possibility of using the prepared Sb 2 S 3 /PVA/PVP nanocomposite sheets for optoelectronic applications and optical devices.