Copper alumina reinforced poly(aniline-co-indole) nanocomposites for optoelectronic devices
S. Sankar, Furhan, Ajith George, M. T. Ramesan
Abstract
Copper alumina (Cu-Al 2 O 3 ) reinforced poly(aniline- co-indole) (PANI- co-PIN) nanocomposites were prepared and characterised by UV-vis spectroscopy, FE-SEM and DSC. The bandgap energy decreased with the addition of Cu-Al 2 O 3 to PANI- co-PIN. The FE-SEM confirms the uniform dispersion of nanoparticles in the copolymer. The DSC showed a shift in glass transition temperatures to higher regions with Cu-Al 2 O 3 concentrations. The frequency-temperature-dependent dielectric parameters and electrical conductivity of nanocomposites were investigated. Activation energy calculated from Arrhenius equation decreases with increasing frequency. The real and imaginary part of electric modulus implies the thermally activated dielectric relaxations. The decreasing radius of semicircles in Nyquist plot with increasing temperatures indicates the existence of thermally activated conduction mechanisms. Different theoretical models were used to predict the DC conductivity mechanism in copolymer nanocomposites.