Synthesis, optoelectronic and thermal characterization of PMMA-MWCNTs nanocomposite thin films incorporated by ZrO2 NPs

PMMA polymer doped by multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) has attracted much attention as promising materials for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. The undoped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and PMMA/MWCNTs nanocomposite films doped with varying concentrations of Zirconium dioxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 NPs) are synthesized using the casting method. It is found that the transmittance (T%) decreases significantly as wt% = 5% of MWCNTs is injected into PMMA matrix. In addition, increasing the concentration of ZrO2 NPs into PMMA- MWCNTs nanocomposite thin films results in a further reduction of the transmittance and a further increase of the reflectance (R%). The optical band gap energy (E-g) of PMMA-MWCNTs/ZrO2 NPs decreases from 4.063 eV to 3.845 eV upon injection of 5% of MWCNTs and gradually increasing the ZrO2 concentration in PMMA matrix. Furthermore, other essential optical parameters are estimated using different classical models such as Drude, Spitzer-Fan, Sellmeier, and Wemple-DiDomenico (WDD). Interestingly, thermal stability of PMMA-MWCNTs nanocomposite films is enhanced dramatically upon increasing the content of ZrO2 NPs. The synthesized nanocomposite thin films could be potential candidates for fabrication realistic scaled optoelectronic devices.

Automated summary

PMMA polymer doped with MWCNTs has shown potential for photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. The addition of MWCNTs reduces the transmittance of the material, while increasing the concentration of ZrO2 NPs further decreases transmittance and increases reflectance. Furthermore, the optical band gap energy decreases with the injection of MWCNTs and the increase in ZrO2 concentration.