Synthesis, Characterization of PEDOT-Metal Oxides Nanocomposites and use of PEDOT-ZnO nanocomposite as the Photoanode in Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) Kokate Kiran K.1,*, Kulkarni Shrikaant2, Bhandarkar Subodh E.3 1Department of CEES, MIT College of Engineering, Pune (M.S.) 2Department of Chemical Engineering, Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune (M.S.) 3Department of Chemistry, G.V.I.S.H, Amravati (M.S.) *Corresponding Author E-mail: srkulkarni21@gmail.com
Online published on 26 March, 2018. Abstract Polymer composites are substitutes to a range of products due to their high strength to weight ratio. Polymer composites are the potential candidates in many of the applications in diverse fields like automobile, healthcare, construction, electronics, etc. which is attributed to their thermal, electrical, optical and mechanical properties. Several methods so far have been employed to synthesize polymer composites. Among conductive polymers, PEDOT [poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene)], stands out due to its excellent stability and high light transmissivity. In this paper in-situ emulsion polymerization technique is employed for the synthesis of poly (3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) and is used as a matrix and metal oxides namely Zinc oxide (ZnO), magnetic ferric oxide (Fe3O4) and silver vanadium oxide (AgVO3) as a reinforcing material in preparing a composite out of it. Sonochemical synthesis was preferred over conventional bulk heating process. The process was meticulously followed and optimized so as to develop a stable polymer nanocomposite. Synthesis process was investigated based on reaction time, yield and energy efficiency. The PEDOT & its composite with metal oxides was characterized for its properties namely porosity, mechanical strength, surface texture and morphology using Conductivity, UV-visible spectroscopy, XRD, FTIR and SEM, Particle size analysis, Thermogravimetric and magnetic behavior analysis etc. The results of characterization were found to be in tandem obtained using different analytical tools. Top Keywords Polymer composites, PEDOT. Top |