Exploring the Structural, Optical and Dielectric Behaviors of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/MnFe₂O₄-ZnMn₂O₄ Nanocomposite Polymers

Abstract

Polymethyl methacrylate/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PMMA/MWCNTs)/3 wt % (1-x) MnFe₂O₄/xZnMn₂O₄ (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) samples were formed using the sol-gel and solvent casting routes. The Rietveld refinement method was applied to explore the different phases in the MnFe₂O₄/xZnMn₂O₄ samples. The nano natures of the fillers were investigated using a high resolution transmission electron microscope. The X-ray diffraction technique was used to study the nature of the structure of all polymers. The direct and indirect optical band gap energy (E_g) values for our PMMA/MWCNTs were 5.01 and 4.71 eV, respectively. The direct and indirect E_g values were reduced by doping the polymer with (1-x)MnFe₂O₄/xZnMn₂O₄; they were 4.95 and 4.56 eV, respectively, for polymer doped with x = 0.8. The effect of the amount of ZnMn₂O₄ phase in the nanofillers on the linear and nonlinear optical parameters and also the dielectric constants, electric modulus, and energy density of PMMA/MWCNTs were studied using diffused reflectance and LCR meter techniques. Under an excitation wavelength of 317 nm, the fluorescence spectra of pure PMMA/MWCNTs as well as PMMA/MWCNTs loaded with (1-x)MnFe₂O₄/xZnMn₂O₄ samples were inspected.

Keywords:

• PMMA/MWCNTs
• MnFe₂O₄-ZnMn₂O₄ nanocomposites
• structure
• optical
• dielectric

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by Researchers Supporting Project number [RSP2023R72], King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Authors’ contribution

All authors have contributed, discussed the results and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.