Investigation on Crystal-Structure, Thermal and Electrical Properties of PVDF Nanocomposites with Cobalt Oxide and Functionalized Multi-Wall-Carbon-Nanotubes
Farhan, Shabir Ahmad, Hameed Ullah, Zia Ur Rehman, Mohsan Nawaz, Imad Uddin, Anand Parkash, Hatem R. Alamri, Norah Salem Alsaiari, Muhammad Sufyan Javed
Abstract
Nanocomposites of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with dimensional (1D) cobalt oxide (Co3O4) and f-MWCNTs were prepared successfully by the solution casting method. The impact of 1D Co3O4 filler and 1D Co3O4/f-MWCNTs co-fillers on the structural, thermal, and electrical behavior of PVDF were studied. The crystal structural properties of pure PVDF and its nanocomposite films were studied by XRD, which revealed a significant enhancement of β-phase PVDF in the resulting nanocomposite films. The increase in β-phase was further revealed by the FTIR spectroscopic analysis of the samples. TG, DTA, and DSC analyses confirmed an increase in thermal stability of PVDF with the addition of nano-fillers as well as their increasing wt.%. From impedance spectroscopic studies, it was found that the DC conductivity of PVDF increases insignificantly initially (up to 0.1 wt.% of nano-fillers addition), but a significant improvement in DC conductivity was found at higher concentrations of the nano-fillers. Furthermore, it was observed that the DC conductivity decreases with frequency. The increase in DC conductivity corresponded to the strong interactions of nano-fillers with PVDF polymer chains.