A novel polymer composite with a small optical band gap: New approaches for photonics and optoelectronics |
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Authors: | Shujahadeen B. Aziz Omed Gh. Abdullah Mariwan A. Rasheed |
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Affiliation: | 1. Advanced Polymeric Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Sulaimani, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq;2. Development Center for Research and Training, University of Human Development, Sulaimani, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq |
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Abstract: | In this article, a novel approach is presented for the preparation of small band‐gap polymer composites. The intensity of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak increased from 0.64 to 3.2 for the chitosan–silver nitrate sample containing 1 wt % titanium dioxide (TiO2). In the cases of 3 and 5 wt % added TiO2 particles, the SPR peak disappeared. A wide shift of the absorption coefficient from 4.36 to 0.93 eV was observed. The smallest optical band gap of about 0.98 eV was achieved for the sample containing 3 wt % TiO2 filler. The wide shift in the optical band gap was interpreted on the bases of the formation of metal‐induced gap states between the metallic silver particles and the TiO2 structure. A novel approach was achieved that was an alternative method to Tauc's semi‐empirical model for band‐gap estimation. The optical dielectric loss parameter for the band‐gap study was easily calculated and analyzed, whereas it unfolded a deep knowledge from the physics point of view. The established quantum mechanical expression revealed a strong relationship between the energy band gap and the optical dielectric loss parameter. The scanning electron microscopy results show the leakage of white aggregated silver particles and distinguishable intense peaks of metallic silver particles between 3 and 3.3 keV appearing in the energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrum. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44847. |
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Keywords: | biopolymers and renewable polymers morphology nanoparticles nanowires and nanocrystals optical and photovoltaic applications optical properties |
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