Synthesizing, characterizing, and cold plasma treating of Cr2O3/CuO nanomaterials doped PMMA/PEO for flexible optoelectronic applications

Polymeric nanocomposites are attracting significant attention due to their ability to facilitate innovative uses. This work investigated the possibility of improving performance by examining the impact of dispersing copper oxide (CuO) and chromium (III) oxide (Cr₂O₃) nanoparticles in a blend of poly (methyl methacrylate) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) on several properties. UV–visible and photoluminescence spectroscopies were used for optical properties, and FE-SEM was used for surface morphology analysis. The results showed that as the CuO–Cr₂O₃ percentage increased, the extinction coefficient increased, and indirect band gaps decreased. The photoluminescence properties showed two distinct peaks (dual emission). We measured the AC electrical properties with frequencies ranging from 100 Hz to 5 MHz. The composite's AC conductivity and dielectric loss increased significantly at high frequencies (higher than 2 MHz). The dielectric constant is nearly frequency-independent and increases as the concentration of nanoparticles increases. We used a DC plasma sputtering facility to treat the nanocomposites with argon plasma at a pressure of 0.12 mBar for 7 min. We analyzed the films' properties before and after plasma treatment, observing a significant impact on nanocomposite-incorporated nanoparticles. After plasma treatment, the band gap decreased from 5.05 eV to 4.8 eV for the lowest concentration of CuO + Cr₂O₃ (1.5 wt%) and from 3.55 eV to 2.47 eV for the highest concentration of CuO + Cr₂O₃ (6 wt%). The changes ranged from 0.25 to 1.08 eV. The films possess features that render them suitable for high-frequency optoelectronic devices as well as optical applications such as emission filters and UV shielding.