Investigation of Photocatalytic, Piezoelectric and Dielectric Properties of Sol- Gel Synthesized Barium Titanate Nanoparticles Reinforced into PMMA Polymer Matrices Nanocomposites for Multifunctional Applications

Abstract

This research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites consisting of barium titanate (BaTiO₃) nanoparticles reinforced into poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer matrices. The nanocomposites were prepared using a solution-casting technique, while the barium titanate nanoparticles were synthesized via a conventional sol-gel method followed by calcination at 800°C for 1 hour. Structural, morphological, photocatalytic, piezoelectric, and dielectric properties were evaluated using several characterization techniques, including FTIR, XRD, SEM, UV-Vis spectroscopy, a d33 meter, and an LCR analyzer. FTIR analysis identified absorption bands corresponding to Ba-O and Ti-O, as well as organic functional groups associated with the PMMA polymer matrices. XRD analysis confirmed the tetragonal structure of BaTiO₃ nanoparticles with an average crystallite size of 14.49 nm. SEM analysis determined the particle size to be approximately 37 nm. UV-Vis spectroscopy evaluated the nanoparticles band-gap 2.92 eV and assessed photocatalytic activity. Under UV irradiation, both nanocomposites progressively degraded methylene blue (MB), with the 30 wt% BTO/PMMA nanocomposite achieving the highest degradation efficiency of 24.41% after 75 min. The piezoelectric co-efficient was evaluated 35 pC/N and 37 pC/N with d 33 meter analysis. The dielectric, impedance and modulus characteristics were observed over the low-high frequency range 40–110 MHz. The dielectric constant was determined 4.35 and 17.11 for 20 and 30 wt% BTO/PMMA nanocomposites, respectively, at low frequency range, which decreased gradually with increasing frequency, following modest dielectric constant 3.36 and 9.98 at high frequency range 1M-110M Hz, along with high ac conductivity 3.5×10 − 3 S\(\:{\text{c}\text{m}}^{-1}\) and 5.98×10 − 3 S\(\:{\text{c}\text{m}}^{-1}\). Impedance and electrical-modulus analysis further revealed broad non-Debye relaxation behavior associated with heterogeneous BTO/PMMA interfaces and localized charge-transport processes. The dispersion of Z″ and M″ plots with increasing frequency indicates the occurrence of dielectric relaxation. Overall, these results identified relatively higher BaTiO₃ reinforcement enhanced multifunctional properties which support BTO/PMMA nanocomposite as a promising processable platform for dielectric components and photocatalytic pollutant-remediation applications.

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