Optical and electrical conductivity improvement of polystyrene/polymethyl methacrylate blend embedded by silver nanoparticles for electrical devices

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics Vol. 34; no. 14; p. 1162
• Main Authors: El-Morsy, M. A., Awwad, Nasser S., Ibrahium, Hala A., Bajaber, Majed A., Farea, M. O., Menazea, A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.05.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Ablation; Broadband; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Dielectric loss; Dielectric properties; Diffraction patterns; Electrical resistivity; Energy gap; Energy storage; Fourier transforms; Infrared spectroscopy; Ion currents; Laser ablation; Materials Science; Nanoparticles; Optical and Electronic Materials; Optical properties; Optoelectronic devices; Polymer films; Polymers; Polymethyl methacrylate; Polystyrene resins; Silver; Spectrum analysis
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-023-10549-w

It was possible to fabricate silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) by laser ablation in combination with virgin polymer films of polymer polystyrene (50% PS) and polymethyl methacrylate (50% PMMA) films. XRD analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, dielectric properties, and ac conductivity have been used to investigate the produced films. X-ray diffraction patterns show two diffraction peaks at 2θ = 9.71° and 17.96° that were assigned to semi-crystalline nature of PS/PMMA matrix. The complexation and interaction between PS/PMMA matrix and the silver nanoparticles changed the intensity of the transmittance bands, as seen by FT-IR. UV–visible investigations were utilized to illustrate the optical characteristics of the prepared samples. The optical energy gap ( E g ) of the produced samples reduces from 3.76 to 3.31 eV in the direct transition and from 2.66 to 1.95 eV in the indirect transition. Using broadband dielectric spectroscopy, the ac conductivity spectra of all films were studied. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss were illustrated. At 30 min of laser ablation time, the PS/PMMA sample loaded with Ag NPs had an optimum ionic conductivity of 7.65 × 10 –5  S/cm. This research is suggested to have a significant influence on energy storage applications and optoelectronic devices.