Characterization, optical, and electrical properties of chitosan/polyacrylamide blend doped silver nanoparticles

The organic–inorganic nanocomposites materials were made using the aqueous solution-cast process and consisted of a 50/50 wt% combination of chitosan (Cs) and polyacrylamide (PAM) doped with various concentrations of silver nanoparticles (0.1, 0.4, and 0.6 wt%). Ag NPs had a significant impact on the structural behavior of the Cs/PAM-Ag polymer blend, according to XRD and FTIR studies. Furthermore, XRD measurements show that increasing Ag nanoparticles inside the blend matrix increase the amourphuosity of polymer films. The intermolecular interaction between Cs/PAM blend and Ag nanoparticles is indicated by the FTIR spectra, which show that the intensity of the nanocomposites films decreases with Ag NPs addition. The optical bandgap decreases as the Ag NPs concentration in the Cs/PAM matrix increases, while the Urbach energy increases. The AC conductivity was improved after adding the silver nanoparticles. The values of the complex permittivity of the nanocomposite samples showed increment with a rise in the concentration of Ag NPs, which is due to an increase in ionic conduction of the films. The present results showed the advantage of using Ag NPs as nanofiller to improve the optical and electrical properties of Cs/PAM samples.