Chemical and structural changes in polyamide based organic–inorganic hybrid materials upon incorporation of SeS2O62− precursor

Abstract Composite organic-inorganic functional materials are of significant importance in various applications of science and technology. In this work, physicochemical characterization of such composite materials obtained after the exposure of polyamide PA 6 to K 2 SeS 2 O 6 precursor solution was performed. Chalcogenized polymer surface was characterized using X-ray diffraction, infrared, and UV–vis spectroscopies while their bulk chemical analysis was performed using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Crystallite size was not found to change with the exposure to K 2 SeS 2 O 6 precursor but PA 6 chain–chain separation decreased. Importantly, infrared and X-ray analyses showed chemical bonding taking place between the PA 6 and SeS 2 O 6 2− ions via −NH− functional group. A distinct change in bandgap, E g , value was observed in UV–vis spectra due to the presence of SeS 2 O 6 2− , SeSO 3 2− and Se 2 S 2 O 6 2− ions formed via decomposition of the precursor material in acidic medium. After extended 4 h chalcogenation a distinct absorption due to the elemental selenium was also observed as obtained from Tauc plots.