INVESTIGATION ON STRUCTURAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, THERMAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF BLEND PPY-PVA THIN FILMS DOPED WITH NANO TiO2 PARTICLES

Abstract

Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA), Poly Pyrrole (PPY), and PPY-PVA blend thin films loaded with varying concentrations of nano TiO2 particles were prepared by using the in-situ chemical oxidative polymerization technique. Prepared films have undergone several characterization techniques i.e., XRD, UV-Spectroscopy, SEM, and DSC to study their structural, morphological, optical, and thermal properties. SEM images revealed that the surface morphology of PPY has been significantly modified upon the addition of PVA and nano TiO2 particles and observed the presence of pores on the surface. XRD spectra disclose that the amorphous nature of PPY whereas semi-crystalline nature of PVA and the amorphous nature of PPY-PVA blend thin film, also revealed that the concentration of dopant imparts the crystallinity to the nanocomposite thin films. The DSC thermographs confirmed that the shifting of melting temperature towards the higher temperature side in PPY-PVA blend thin film compared to pure PPY and PVA and the addition of dopant has changed melting points towards slightly lower temperature side. Direct band gap values of prepared thin films have been calculated by plotting UV graphs, and these were diminished as rising in the concentration of dopant which supports the conductivity level of thin films.