Optical Properties and Surface Morphology of PMMA: TiO₂ Nanocomposite Thin Films

Abstract:

Sol-gel spin coated PMMA:TiO₂ nanocomposite thin films on glass substrates were studied by comparing two types of the sol-gel solutions. Two types of PMMA:TiO₂ nanocomposite sol-gel solutions were prepared; one using Degusa (P25), and the other one is using self-prepared TiO₂ powder. The self-prepared nanosized TiO₂ powder is obtained by drying the TiO₂ sol-gel using solvothermal method followed by grinding the TiO₂ crystal using ball miller. Triton-X was used as surfactant to stabilize the composite. Besides comparing the nanocomposite solution, we also studied the effect of the thin films thickness on the optical properties and their surface morphology. The optical properties and surface morphology were measured with UV-VIS spectrometer and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The result showed that nanocomposite PMMA with self-prepared TiO₂ give high optical transparency than that of with Degusa (P25). The results also indicate that as the thickness is increased the optical transparency are decreased. Both AFM images showed that the agglomerations of TiO₂ particles occurred on top of the thin film and the surface roughness increased when the thickness is increased. AFM results show that nanocomposited PMMA with P25 has high agglomeration particles compared to the other one.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 364)
• Pages: 105-109
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.364.105
• Online since: October 2011
• Authors: Ismail Lyly Nyl, Ahmad Fairoz Aziz, Zulkefle Habibah, Musa Mohamed Zaihidi, Mohd Hanapiah Abdullah, Sukreen Hana Herman, Uzer Mohd Noor, Mohamad Rusop
• Keywords: Morpholoy, Nanocomposite, PMMA, TiO₂, Transmittance

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