Mechanical and electrical properties evaluation of PVA-carbon dot polymer nanocomposites

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of incorporationC-dots within polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix for improving the mechanical and electrical properties. The thin films of these composites are prepared by the polymer intercalation solution casting method with various C-dot nanoparticles loading (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0wt%) and compared properties with the pristine PVA. The fabricated nanomaterial composite films are characterized using well-known techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). From the analysis of FTIR and XRD results, it was estimated that the C-dot nanofiller has strong interaction with PVA polymer matrix. Further, from the mechanical properties estimation, it is observed the elastic modulus of 37 MPa increased by 98.05% when compared to pristine PVA. Tensile strength is found to increase with increase in filler concentration, 300% increase in tensile strength was observed for 2wt% filler loading compared to the pristine PVA. Electrical properties are strongly dependent on C-dot nanofiller loading, and the same was analyzed using LCR meter. It has been observed that the dielectric constant decreased with an increase in frequency. AC conductivity was estimated with respect to the frequency, the highest conductivity (7x10^-5 Sm^-1) was observed for 1.5wt% of C-dot nanofiller PVA composite.