Anomalous dielectric behaviour of poly(vinyl alcohol)-silicon dioxide (PVA-SiO2) nanocomposites

Complex dielectric function, electric modulus, ac conductivity and impedance spectra of PVA–SiO2 nanocomposite films have been investigated in the frequency range of 20 Hz to 1 MHz and temperature range from 30 °C to 60 °C. Real part of dielectric function of the nanocomposites slowly decreases with increase of frequency and it shows a non-linear increase with the increase of temperature. An anomalous variation is observed in dielectric and electrical functions with increase of SiO2 concentrations in the PVA matrix. The ac conductivity of these materials increases whereas impedance values decrease linearly by five orders of magnitude with increase of frequency from 20 Hz to 1 MHz. Dielectric loss values of these films are found minimum at intermediate frequency region, and it increases at low and high frequency regions confirming the presence of multiple relaxation processes. The contributions of interfacial polarization effect and dipolar ordering in dielectric properties of these materials have been explored, and their technological applications as nanodielectrics have been discussed. The XRD patterns reveal that the interactions between PVA and SiO2 disturb the dipolar ordering resulting decrease of crystallinity of the PVA in the nanocomposites.