Abstract
In this study, we investigated the enhanced charge transfer (CT) behaviors of single-walled carbon nanotubes (f-SWCNTs) and copper oxide (CuO)-reinforced poly(o-anisidine-co-o-toluidine) nanocomposites. Prior this study, the targeted nanocomposite materials were fabricated using an in situ oxidative polymerization tool. FT-IR, XRD, and SEM techniques were used to confirm the formation of the pure POA-co-POT copolymer and its related nanocomposites in the presence of f-SWCNTs and CuO nanoparticles. The enhancement of the thermal behavior and conductivity in the presence of either f-SWCNTs or f-SWCNTs/CuO confirms the well-dispersed filler on the polymeric matrix. Additionally, steady-state and time-resolved measurements were performed to monitor the influence of f-SWCNTs and CuO on the optical properties and CT related to the copolymerization process. Our fabricated materials showed a quenching of 25% and 31% in the presence of 10% f-SWCNTs, and 2% f-SWCNTs + 15% CuO, respectively. These findings provided strong evidence for the fast charge transfer within the fabricated nanocomposite, which matched the time-resolved results. The fs measurements showed that the ground state bleach (GSB) kinetics was more rapid in the presence of 10% f-SWCNTs compared to that of the free copolymer, while in the presence of 10% CuO, the electron transfer (ET) was faster, which decayed rapidly with a 0.6 ps time constant supporting the metallic nature of the composite. Our findings suggested that the incorporation of f-SWCNTs and CuO into a polymer matrix can close the gap resulting from polymer limitation.