Nanoparticle size and concentration dependence of the electroactive phase content, electrical and optical properties of Ag/poly(vinylidene fluoride) composites

Abstract

This paper describes the processing of silver nanoparticle doped poly(vinylidene fluoride). The effect of filler concentration and size on the electroactive phase of the polymer, as well as on the optical and electrical properties is discussed. Spherical silver nanoparticles incorporated into the poly(vinylidene fluoride) polymeric matrix induced the nucleation of the electroactive  phase. The electroactive phase content strongly depends on nanoparticle content and size. In particular, there is a critical nanoparticle size, below which the filler losses the nucleation efficiency, due to the small size relative to the polymer macromolecules. Furthermore, the presence of surface plasmon resonance absorption in the composites is observed, once again showing a strong dependence on particle concentration and size. The absorption is larger for larger concentrations and for a given concentration increases with particle size. This behavior is correlated to the electrical response and is related to the extra bands and electrons provided by the nanoparticles in the polymer large energy band gap.