Study of Dielectrical Properties of Swift Heavy Ion Induced Modifications in Metal Oxide/PMMA Nanocomposites

Fe2O3 nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method and different concentrations (6 and 10 wt%) of it were dispersed in a poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix, through a soft chemical casting method. These films were irradiated with 50 MeV Li+3 ions at a fluence of 5 x 10(12) ions/cm(2). Dependence of dielectric properties of pristine and irradiated samples on frequency, ion beam fluence and with filler concentration was studied. The results reveal the enhancement in dielectric properties after dopping nanoparticles and also upon irradiation. The average surface roughness values decreased from 21 nm to 16 nm and 24 nm to 18 nm respectively for 6 and 10 wt% of Fe2O3 dispersed PMMA composites after irradiation as revealed from AFM analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis revealed an increase in the glass transition temperature from 77.4 degrees C to 78.7 degrees C upon irradiation, which may be attributed to cross linking structure due to ion beam irradiation. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy analysis revealed that the few peaks enhanced after dopping and irradiation which corroborates the change in the environment of these groups.