Ameliorating and Tailoring the Features of Silica-Silicon Carbide Nanoceramic Doped Polyethylene Oxide for Promising Optoelectronics Applications

Abstract

Interest in exploiting physical properties of nanocomposite materials continues its upward trajectory, which can lead to advancements in a variety of application domains, including sensing and optoelectronics. Here, silica (SiO₂) and silicon carbide (SiC)-reinforced polyethylene oxide (PEO) nanocomposite membranes (NMs) are fabricated by a casting method. The SiO₂-SiC nanoparticle (NP) content is changed between 0–5.1 wt.%, followed by characterizing microstructural and optical properties of the resulting NMs. The successful reinforcement of SiO₂ and SiC NPs within the matrix is described using different analytical mechanisms. The absorbance of PEO/SiO₂-SiC NMs increases to 74.2%, and their transmittance decreases to 46% at a wavelength of λ = 560 nm when the SiO₂-SiCNP content increases to 5.1 wt.%. The absorption coefficient of pure PEO (6591 cm⁻¹) is found to increase to 8450 cm⁻¹ for the 5.1 wt.% NP content at a photon energy of 4.14 eV. Meanwhile, increasing the NP content from 0 to 5.1 wt.% decreases the allowed and forbidden indirect transition energy gaps from 3.7 to 3.3 eV and 3.6 to 3.2 eV, respectively. Alternatively, increasing trends are observed for the refractive index (from 1.94 to 2.64) and extinction coefficient (from 5.47 × 10^–3 to 19.76 × 10^–3) at λ = 780 nm. Also, the increased SiO₂-SiCNP content enhances the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant of the NMs.