Abstract
In the current work, the electrical and mechanical properties of the reduced graphene oxide/PVA (RGO/PVA) blend have been reinforced using Fe2O3 nanoparticles for flexible electronic devices. Fe2O3 polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) were prepared by the solution casting technique, while Fe2O3 NPs were synthesized via the hydrothermal procedure. TEM examination reveals that the prepared Fe2O3 NPs possess spherical shapes with an average size of 22 nm. FT-IR analysis of the prepared PNCs shows a clear structures' variation in the absorption bands of the PNCs due to Fe2O3 NPs embedding as compared with the plain one. The electrical properties were performed using a four-probe stage under temperature sweeping. The DC electrical conductivity (sigma(dc)) of PVA is enhanced with four orders in magnitude via filling. A dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) was used to investigate the mechanical properties. DMA measurements analysis exhibits that both the storage modulus and stiffness of the plain PVA are twice enhanced due to Fe2O3 embedding as compared with those of the plain one. The glassy transition temperature (T-g) values of the prepared PNCs were determined from the loss factor (Tan delta) measurements. T-g values of the PNCs are shifted to larger temperatures relative to that of the pure PVA. The obtained findings recommend Fe2O3 PNCs as active candidates for new flexible electronic devices.