Structural and Optical Studies on Sol-gel Composites of Nickel-Doped Nanocrystalline Zinc Oxide/Polyvinylidene Fluoride

Abstract

Nickel-doped nanocrystalline ZnO with three different Ni concentrations was incorporated in polyvinylidene fluoride thin film for obtaining free-standing flexible film by sol-gel technique. The effect of Ni-ZnO loading on the optical and microstructural properties of the Ni-ZnO/polyvinylidene fluoride composite films was studied. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman studies were performed to characterize the bonding environment. Fluorine-terminated surface showed a strong F1 s peak located at similar to 695 eV arising out of C-F bonds. Existence of. phase of polyvinylidene fluoride along with the presence of ZnO nanocrystals were indicated by Raman studies. Secondary ion mass spectrometry studies indicated the distribution of Ni-ZnO particles in the polyvinylidene fluoride matrix