Exploring the Structural, Optical and Dielectric Behaviors of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)/Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/MnFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf>-ZnMn<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> Nanocomposite Polymers

Abstract

Polymethyl methacrylate/multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PMMA/MWCNTs)/3 wt % (1-x) MnFe2O4/xZnMn2O4 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) samples were formed using the sol-gel and solvent casting routes. The Rietveld refinement method was applied to explore the different phases in the MnFe2O4/xZnMn2O4 samples. The nano natures of the fillers were investigated using a high resolution transmission electron microscope. The X-ray diffraction technique was used to study the nature of the structure of all polymers. The direct and indirect optical band gap energy (E g) values for our PMMA/MWCNTs were 5.01 and 4.71 eV, respectively. The direct and indirect E g values were reduced by doping the polymer with (1-x)MnFe2O4/xZnMn2O4; they were 4.95 and 4.56 eV, respectively, for polymer doped with x = 0.8. The effect of the amount of ZnMn2O4 phase in the nanofillers on the linear and nonlinear optical parameters and also the dielectric constants, electric modulus, and energy density of PMMA/MWCNTs were studied using diffused reflectance and LCR meter techniques. Under an excitation wavelength of 317 nm, the fluorescence spectra of pure PMMA/MWCNTs as well as PMMA/MWCNTs loaded with (1-x)MnFe2O4/xZnMn2O4 samples were inspected.