Novel PEVA/PMMA-based nanocomposites containing ZnO–Co nanoparticles: investigation of optical, dielectric and electrical properties for energy storage and organic optoelectronic devices

Abstract

In the present study, Polyethylene vinyl acetate (PEVA) and Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) blend-based nanocomposites were prepared by using various concentrations of Co-doped ZnO (ZnO–Co) nanofiller to investigate the impact of nanofiller addition on specific physical attributes and structural changes. The XRD study revealed that the PEVA/PMMA is a semicrystalline blend, and ZnO–Co incorporation degrades its crystallinity. The complexation behaviour of our as-prepared PEVA/PMMA-ZnO–Co nanocomposites is displayed in the FTIR spectra. UV–visible spectroscopy studies were used to estimate the optical properties (i.e., Urbach energy, E_g direct and E_gi indirect). Moreover, the direct and indirect energy gap decreased from 5.18 and 4.82 eV for the pure blend to 4.21 and 3.24 eV for Blend-6% ZnO–Co, respectively. In contrast, the Urbach energy increased from 0.258 to 0.547 with a 6% ZnO–Co concentration. The frequency-dependent AC conductivity of the PEVA/PMMA-ZnO–Co was utilized to evaluate the dynamic ion behaviour of all the as-prepared samples. Additionally, frequency graphs of the M′ and M″, ε′ and ε″ at various concentrations and room temperature (RT) were presented. According to the optical and dielectric results, the generated PEVA/PMMA-ZnO–Co nanocomposites may be suitable for energy storage devices like supercapacitors and organic optoelectronic devices.