Morphological and Conductivity Studies of Fullerene (C60) and N-Vinyl Carbazole Based Interpenetrating Polymer Network

Abstract

In the present study we have synthesized interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) of fullerene (C₆₀) and N-vinyl carbazole (NVC). The IPNFC was characterized using infrared (IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and conductivity techniques which reveals desirable and interesting results. IR spectroscopy reveals presence of fullerene at 527 and 1600 cm^–1 and poly (N-vinyl carbazole) at 1101 cm^–1. A thin polymeric interconnected film is seen via SEM technique, revealing transparent and dual phase morphology. IPN is also analyzed for permeability and permittivity, which reveals maximum value of ε_r', ε_r'' and tan δ_ε at 2.77, 0.48, and 0.11, respectively, and maximum values of μ'_r of μ''_r, and tan μ _r ranging from 0.99 to 1.50, 0.01–0.103, and 0.01–0.08, respectively. Moderate values of permeability and permittivity reveals electromagnetic property of the IPN. Conductivity IPN was calculated and found to be 4.98 S/m, which describes the semiconducting nature of the polymeric network.