Influence of silver nanoparticles on the surface characteristics and electrical properties of polypyrrole/PET polymeric composite films for electronic devices

The motivation behind this study is to fabricate novel nanocomposite materials with stronger dielectric characteristics to be applied in electronic devices. The chemical oxidative polymerization technique was employed to fabricate the PET/(PPy-Ag) polymer composite films. These films consist of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and polypyrrole (PPy), and the blend (PPy-Ag) is then deposited on the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. The choice of method depends on the desired application, the properties of the polymer and the level of nanoparticle dispersion required. The characterization methods, Fourier-transform-infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) were utilized in this study. The EDX data show that the PET/(PPy-Ag) is successfully fabricated with elements C, N, O and Ag, with weight ratios of 15.76%, 8.92%, 65.88% and 9.44%, respectively. The influence of (PPy-Ag) on the conductivity and surface wettability of PET was evaluated. The surface-free energy and adhesion work were determined using contact angle measurements. The surface-free energy increased from 41.64 to 60.24[Formula: see text]mJ/m 2 and the water adhesion work increased from 98.78[Formula: see text]mJ/m 2 for PET/(PPy-Ag)-1 to 121.01[Formula: see text]mJ/m 2 for PET/(PPy-Ag). Moreover, the conductivity enhanced from [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]S.cm[Formula: see text] for PET to [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]S.cm[Formula: see text] for (PPy-Ag)/PET. By modifying the properties of the composite PET/(PPy-Ag), the results demonstrated that the fabricated composite can be used as an electronic and industrial device.