DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF POLY (VINYLIDENE FLUORIDE)/BARIUM TITANATE NANOCOMPOSITES UNDER GAMMA IRRADIATION

Abstract

Abstract The main focus of this study is to investigate the effect of gamma irradiation on the electrical properties of PVDF/BT nanocomposites. A 1.25 MeV gamma-ray was delivered to the composite films with different BaTiO3-volume fraction, ƒBT = 0–0.4, and with different absorbed doses ranged 50–2500 Gy. Dielectric properties of PVDF/BaTiO3 composites under frequencies ranged from 100 Hz to 10 MHz at room temperature were investigated using an impedance analyser. An increase of 28% in the dielectric constant and a decrease of 15% in the loss tangent were observed in the PVDF/BT 40 vol% nanocomposite film under the accumulated dose of 1500 Gy. Scanning electron microscopy provided no significant difference in microscopic structures between non-exposed and gamma-exposed materials. Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy provides gamma-induced transition of PVDF-crystalline forms as alpha-PVDF into beta-PVDF/gamma-PVDF which has been reported as one of the main factors affected the change of dielectric constant in polymers. UV–visible spectrophotometry has been observed gamma-induced red shift in the absorption edge of the PVDF/BT 40 vol% nanocomposite film from 400 nm to 420 nm under the accumulated dose of 1500 Gy. However, a blue shift is observed with increase the accumulated dose up to 2000 Gy.