Fabrication of soft blended- TiO 2 /V/TBAI nanocomposite polymers: new trend of structural, optical and dielectric analysis for polymeric devices

Blended polymer films based on poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and polyethylene oxide (PEO), vanadium doped nano titanium dioxide (TiO 2 /V) and different amounts of tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) were formed by the sol–gel and solution casting methods. Rietveld refinement for synchrotron x-ray diffraction was used to investigate the structure and microstructure of TiO 2 /V sample filler. The surface morphology, the incorporation of the fillers, and miscibility of the PMMA/PEO were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In general, the UV absorbance of PMMA/PEO was greatly enhanced upon doping, nominating the doped blend as UV blocking for greenhouse applications. The effect of TiO 2 /V and TBAI doping on linear/nonlinear optical parameters, dielectric constant, electric modulus, energy stored, and ac conductivity of the PMMA/PEO blend was studied using diffused reflectance and LCR meter techniques. The blended polymer’s direct and indirect band gaps (5.03, 4.96) eV shrank to (4.99, 4.64) eV as it loaded with TiO 2 /V and reduced further to (4.33, 4.02) eV as it loaded with TBAI. Upon loading, the refractive index decreased in the range 200–400 nm, while increasing for λ > 400 nm. At 500 nm, the refractive ( n ) value of undoped blend is 1.76 which increased upon doping to 2.16 for the blend with TiO 2 /V/2.5 wt% TBAI but decreased a little to 2.06 upon increasing TBAI to 7.5 or 10 wt%. The influence of doping on the emitted colors from each blend was explored using the fluorescence technique and CIE diagram. The controllable optical and electrical features reveal that PMMA/PEO with TiO 2 /V and TBAI blends could be potential optical materials in the advancement of futuristic flexible-type optoelectronic devices.