Electrical and structural investigations on carbon-silica nanocomposites synthesized by sol-gel route

Abstract

The synthesized nanocomposites (SiO2/Carbon) were characterized by x-ray diffraction, TEM micrograph and FT-IR absorbance spectrum. After heat treatment, we investigate the electrical properties of the coal obtained. Using the percolation theory, we investigate the electrical conductivity and the thermoelectric power of nanocomposites. The results outlined that for constant resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) content of 50%, the BET specific surface area increases when pyrolysis temperature increases and is almost constant in the ranges 700 C < T < 1100 C. However, for constant pyrolysis temperature of 1400 C, the BET specific surface area was found to decrease from 165 to 82 m2g-1 when RF content varied from 50 to 75%.