Enhanced optical limiting of dispersible MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposite

●We generate MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposite suspensions by the non-covalent modification.●The optical limiting properties is measured by using the z-scan method.●The TiO2 nanoparticles induce a limiting threshold reduction.●The main mechanism of optical limiting is nonlinear absorption in these composites.

Using multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as support and TiO2 nanoparticles as precursor, the MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposite was prepared through sol–gel method and characterized by UV–vis Spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Then the non-covalent modification generated stable MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposite suspensions by using ionic liquid surfactant which is C16MIMBr as dispersant. Finally, the suspension was investigated with nanosecond pulses at 532 nm to study the nonlinear optical properties by using a z-scan method. The results show the MWCNTs/TiO2 nanocomposite is superior to the MWCNTs as suspensions.