Effect of carbon nano tube in the structural and physical properties of polyvinyl chloride films

Abstract Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) films loaded by different concentration of Carbon Nano Tubes (CNT) are prepared through a solution casting method. CNT are characterized using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and x-ray diffractometer (XRD). The analysis of the PVC-CNT films is carried out by using XRD, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) to study the change in the polymer structure. UV–vis spectrophotometer is used to determine the optical parameters depending on the optical absorption data. It is found that, the direct and indirect optical band gap decrease with an increase in CNT nanoparticle content in the PVC matrix. The refractive index, optical dielectric parameters, and optical conductivity of the polymer films are investigated using the optical absorption data. These parameters are enhanced with the increase in the CNT concentration in the PVC matrix. The Wemple-DiDomenico model is used to calculate the optical dispersion parameters (like; oscillator energy, dispersion energy, static refractive index, dipole strength, and static optical dielectric constant). In addition, nonlinear refractive index, linear optical susceptibility, and third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility are investigated.