Optoelectrical and photoluminescence quenching properties of poly(N-vinyl carbazole)-polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites

•The successful preparation of poly(N-vinyl carbazole)-polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide by chemical oxidation.•Higher electrical conductivity has been shown by the prepared graphene-based conducting polymer nanocomposites.•Higher thermal properties have been exhibited owing to reduced graphene oxide in the conducting polymer nanocomposites.

Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) doped poly(N-vinyl carbazole)/polypyrrole (PNVC-PPy) was decorated on various concentrations of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) by facial in-situ chemical synthesis to produce poly(N-vinyl carbazole)-polypyrrole/reduced graphene oxide (PNVC-PPy/RGO) nanocomposite. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the incorporation of RGO into the PNVC-PPy structure. The thermo-electric properties of PNVC-PPy increased with varying reduced graphene oxide (RGO) contents. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses showed the formation of PNVC-PPy/RGO nanocomposites with ordered structures. Raman spectroscopy analysis revealed the enhancement of conjugation length of the polymer nanocomposites suggesting enhanced electrical conductivity as measured by four-probe technique. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) exhibited significant changes in the thermal stability of the PNVC-PPy/RGO nanocomposites owing to the incorporation of RGO to PNVC-PPy copolymer. The strong π-π interactions between RGO and PNVC-PPy in PNVC-PPy/RGO nanocomposites were observed by the red shifting of the wavelengths in ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) when RGO was added into the polymer composites. The photoluminescence quenching induced by reduced graphene oxide in (PNVC-PPy/RGO) nanocomposite was attributed to the efficient electron transfer from PNVC-PPy copolymer to RGO.

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