Abstract
This paper describes the synthesis and characteriszation of pure bentonite as well as nanocomposites with varying ratios of nickel (Ni) and metallic copper (Cu) based on the wet impregnation method. Both XRD (X-ray diffraction) and SEM-EDX (scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive Xray spectroscopy) analyses confirm the structural characteristics of the composites. The emergence of a Ni peak in the Cu/bentonite EDX spectra indicates that it is in the proper spot and is most likely the creation of Ni-Cu oxides. Furthermore, the dielectric characteristics and electrical conductivity of Niloaded Cu/bentonite composites were also measured at temperatures ranging from 25 degrees C to 120 degrees C and at a frequency range of 100 Hz-0.3 MHz to investigate the impact of varying Ni ratios. For all nanocomposite samples, the dielectric constant (e0) was shown to decrease with increasing frequency and rise with increasing Ni content. The dielectric modulus M00 resulted in a significant decrease in relaxation time. The associated barrier hopping conduction process was discovered to boost electric conductivity rac at higher frequencies (CBH). (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).