Optical and electrical properties of polyethylene oxide-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/NiZnFeO4 NPs nanocomposite films

Polyethylene oxide-poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEO-PEDOT) nanocomposite films -incorporated with NiZnFeO4 nanoparticles (NPs) were deposited using a dip-coating technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed peaks at 35.4, 43.2, 54.5, and 56.3 degrees diffraction angles, corresponding to NiZnFeO4 NPs diffrac-tion planes of (311), (400), (422), and (511), respectively. The PEO-PEDOT film exhibited a smooth amorphous nature with a sheet nanostructure behav-ior. The incorporation of NiZnFeO4 NPs NPs into the PEO-PEDOT nanocom-posite films led to an increase in surface roughness and thermal stability. The nanocomposite films also exhibited sheet nanostructure behavior as observed by SEM micrographs. The bandgap energies of the films, as deduced from the Tauc plot, exhibited a monotonic decrease from 3.91 to 3.60 eV as the NiZnFeO4 NPs concentration increased from 0 to 8 wt%. A mathematical model was formulated to predict the bandgap energies versus NiZnFeO4 NPs concentration. Additionally, the electrical conductivity of the nanocomposite films increased monotonically from 0.46 to 1.30 mS cm -1 as the NiZnFeO4 NPs concentration increased from 0 to 8 wt%, as determined by 4-point probe. The observed correlation between the optical and electrical properties of the nano-composite films indicates promising prospects for utilizing these materials in optoelectronic devices.