Energy band gap investigation of Al nanoparticles/polystyrene nanocomposite foils

In this work, polystyrene/aluminium (PS/Al) nanocomposites were fabricated based on the various concentrations (0, 1, 5, 10, and 15 mg) of Al nanoparticles using the casting method. The UV-Visible absorption spectra of PS/Al nanocomposites as foils, the trend of pure PS, and the resulting PS/Al nanocomposites were all investigated. The neat PS polymer did not show any peak in the absorption spectra. However, the resulting absorption of PS/Al increased with the Al nanoparticles nanofillers. All samples had their energy band gap determined. The results show a decreasing energy band gap from 4.40 eV to 3.7 eV as the concentrations of Al nanoparticles are increased.