Fabrication, surface characterization and electrical properties of hydrogen irradiated nanocomposite materials

Flexible PVA/PANI/Ag nanocomposite consisting of polyaniline (PANI) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were successful fabricated using casting method to applied in storage energy devices. The surface characteristics of the composite films were analyzed using XRD, DSC, and FTIR techniques. The estimated crystallite size of AgNPs is 11.7 nm increased to 15.3 nm by enhancing Ag from 2% to 4%. In addition, the morphology of the films is investigated utilizing SEM. The conductivity σdc is improved from 4.8x10−11 S.cm−1 for PVA to 1.3x10−10 S.cm−1 for PVA/PANI and to 1.2x10−9 S.cm−1 for PVA/PANI/Ag. Furthermore, by increasing the temperature value, the electrical resistance is reduced, besides, the activation energy is modified with addition of PANI and Ag in PVA matrix. The PVA/PANI/Ag are irradiated with hydrogen fluence 0.4x1018, 0.8x1018, and 1.2x1018 ions/cm2. The σac is enhanced from 2.67x10−9 S/cm for PVA/PANI/Ag to 2.02x10−8 S/cm for 0.4x1018 ions/cm2 and to 3.95x10−6 S/cm 1.2x1018 ions/cm2. Moreover, the dielectric constant increased of 0.43 for PVA/PANI/Ag to 0.56, 1.23, and 4.18 when are exposed to 0.4x1018, 0.8x1018, and 1.2x1018 ions.cm−2, respectively. The results showed modifications in electrical characteristics of the the irradiated composite, which open the way for applying these samples in wide range of dielectric applications.