Tailoring of optical and electrical properties of PMMA by incorporation of Ag nanoparticles

Silver–poly(methyl methacrylate) (Ag–PMMA) nanocomposite films were prepared via ex situ chemical route by employing sodium borohydride ( $$\hbox {NaBH}₄$$ ) as a reducing agent. In this study, PVP-stabilized Ag nanoparticles were prepared and mixed with PMMA solution. Optical and structural characterizations of resulting nanocomposite films were performed using UV–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Characteristic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak of Ag nanoparticles was observed at about 3.04 eV (408 nm) in absorption spectra of Ag–PMMA nanocomposite films. TEM micrograph revealed that the spherical Ag nanoparticles with an average diameter of 5.4 $$\,\pm \,$$ 2.5 nm are embedded in PMMA. In Raman spectra, besides shifting of vibrational bands, enhancement in intensity of Raman signal with incorporation of Ag nanoparticles was observed. Current (I)–voltage (V) measurements revealed that conductivity of PMMA increased with increasing concentration of Ag nanoparticles. Analysis of I–V data further disclosed that at voltage 2 V Poole–Frenkel is the dominant conduction mechanism. Urbach’s energy, the measure of disorder, increased from 0.40 eV for PMMA to 1.11 eV for Ag–PMMA nanocomposite films containing 0.039 wt% of Ag nanoparticles.