Modification of thermal and electrical characteristics of hybrid polymer nanocomposites through gamma irradiation for advanced applications

In this article, we present a straightforward in-situ approach for producing Ag NPs incorporated in graphene oxide (GO) blended with glutaraldehyde (GA) cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix. Samples are γ-irradiated by doses of 2, 5, and 10 kGy and in comparison with the pristine films, the thermal conductivity (‘ k ’) and effusivity are measured. ‘ k ’ decreases with irradiation doses up to 5 kGy and further increase in the dosage results increase in ‘ k ’. We performed FDTD modeling to verify the effect of polarization and periodicity on the absorptivity and emissivity spectra that are correlated to the ‘ k ’ and effusivity, empirically. Hence, we can confess that the structural properties of the prepared hybrid nanocomposite are manipulated by γ-irradiation. This attests that the PVA/GO-Ag/GA nanocomposite is radiation-sensitive and could be employed for thermal management systems. Moreover, their strong electrical insulation, as the measured dc conductivity of the γ-irradiated samples is found to be in the range of 2.66 × 10 −8 –4.319 × 10 −7 Sm −1 , which is below the percolation threshold of 1.0 × 10 −6 Sm −1 , demonstrates that they are excellent candidates for the use of thermal management materials. The low ‘ k ’ values allow us to use this promising material as thermal insulating substrates in microsensors and microsystems. They are also great choices for usage as wire and cable insulation in nuclear reactors due to their superior electrical insulation. Graphical Abstract