Muhemmed Azhen S, Aziz Shujahadeen B
Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Regional Government, Old Campus, Sulaimani, 46001, Iraq.
Turning Trash to Treasure Laboratory (TTTL), Research and Development Center, University of Sulaimani, Qlyasan Street, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, 46001, Iraq.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 17;15(1):25978. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10486-0.
In the current study, a breakthrough methodology has been utilized to deliver polymer composites based on polystyrene (PS) with enhanced optoelectronic properties. In this work, bitumen (BT), which is enriched with hydrocarbons and N/O elements extracted from natural rocks, has been employed to alter the optical band gap of the PS polymer. It was found that the optical parameters of PS improved significantly, which is crucial from the technological application viewpoint. The PS: BT films have been prepared utilizing a simple solution casting method. Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, UV-absorption spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction were used to investigate the effect of (BT) loading on the structural and optical properties of PS. The XRD analysis revealed that the addition of BT into PS improved the crystalline phase structure for the composite films. The D and G bands related to order and disorder structures were distinguished in the Raman spectra of the bitumen. The FTIR spectra demonstrated a shift and constriction of the PS-O-H stretching bands upon incorporating BT, indicating a robust interaction between BT and the polymer matrix. Furthermore, the FESEM images revealed rough surfaces in the composite films. Optical characterizations reveal that integrating BT into PS films enhanced their reflectance and diminished their transmittance of incident light at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. The optical properties, including the absorption edge, refractive index, and dielectric constant, encompassing both the real and imaginary parts, were analyzed. The dielectric constant increased when comparing the composite samples to the pure polystyrene sample. The optical energy gap dropped from 4.34 to 1.14 as the BT doping concentration increased to 2 mL. The band edge width, which characterizes the tail-localized states, increases with higher BT concentration. The results of the present work will revolutionize the field of polymer composites for photonics and optoelectronics, especially non-linear optics and laser attenuation.
在当前的研究中，一种突破性的方法被用于制备具有增强光电性能的基于聚苯乙烯（PS）的聚合物复合材料。在这项工作中，富含从天然岩石中提取的碳氢化合物和N/O元素的沥青（BT）被用于改变PS聚合物的光学带隙。结果发现，PS的光学参数有了显著改善，从技术应用的角度来看这至关重要。PS:BT薄膜是利用简单的溶液浇铸法制备的。采用傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）、拉曼光谱、紫外吸收光谱和X射线衍射来研究（BT）负载量对PS结构和光学性能的影响。XRD分析表明，向PS中添加BT改善了复合薄膜的晶相结构。在沥青的拉曼光谱中区分出了与有序和无序结构相关的D带和G带。FTIR光谱表明，加入BT后PS - O - H伸缩带发生了位移和变窄，这表明BT与聚合物基体之间存在强烈的相互作用。此外，FESEM图像显示复合薄膜表面粗糙。光学表征表明，将BT集成到PS薄膜中增强了它们在可见光和紫外波长下的反射率，并降低了它们对入射光的透射率。分析了包括吸收边、折射率和介电常数（包括实部和虚部）在内的光学性能。与纯聚苯乙烯样品相比，复合样品的介电常数增加。随着BT掺杂浓度增加到2 mL，光学能隙从4.34下降到1.14。表征尾局域态的带边宽度随着BT浓度的增加而增大。本工作的结果将彻底改变光子学和光电子学领域的聚合物复合材料，特别是非线性光学和激光衰减领域。
