Abstract
Films of the poly(vinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate-co-2-hydroxypropyl acrylate) copolymer (PVVH) filled with different concentrations of CoCl2 (1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 wt. %) were prepared through a casting method. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) revealed the amorphous nature of the PVVH copolymer and its composite samples and the degree of crystallinity decreased with increasing CoCl2 content. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was performed to depict the structural variations due to the filling process. The absorption spectra of the ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis) technique confirmed that the CoCl2 filler affects the optical properties (such as optical energy gap E-g, refractive index n and Urbach energy E-u) of PVVH composites. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrographs showed that the morphological properties of composite samples were influenced by and depended on the filling level (FL) of CoCl2. The results of DC measurement are discussed on the basis of an intrachain one-dimensional interpolaron hopping model and the obtained hopping distance was largely dependent on FL.