Electrochemical Characterization and HOMO-LUMO Studies on Fabricated PVB/Graphite and PVB/GO Nanocomposites

Abstract

Carbonaceous materials are used to generate composites for numerous purposes, due to their extraordinary properties. In this context, we have carried out a study on the modified properties, viz. thermal stability and specific capacitance of the composites fabricated by the introduction of a carbonaceous material (graphite and graphene oxide) into the Polyvinyl Butyral matrix. Since it has excellent adhesibility and dielectric permittivity, and it can be employed as an electrode in sensors, polyvinyl butyral is used in the current investigation, along with carbonaceous materials, for electrochemical and bandgap properties (HOMO-LUMO) studies. Spectroscopic FT-IR, XRD and SEM analyses remark the comprehensive entanglement of the two components. Various fabricated composites show an increased thermal stability, with a percentage of carbonaceous filler, as suggested by TGA. Cyclic voltammetry studies reveal that PVB acts as an excellent binder, and as a good matrix for the charge movement through it, because it has a good level of dielectric permittivity, thus enabling fabricated materials to be developed as good candidates for supercapacitive batteries.