Influence of a binary phase ZnO–CuO on the structural and reflectance properties of poly-ε-caprolactone based nanocomposites

Abstract

The binary phase metal oxide of ZnO and CuO (BPMO-ZC) nanopowders were synthesized by the chemical bath deposition. The BPMO-ZC nanopowders were distributed through the poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) matrix by solution casting. The effect of the BPMO-ZC on the structure, thermal and reflectance properties of PCL was investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the combined hexagonal wurtzite and cubic forms of the respective ZnO and CuO nanomaterials as well as an orthorhombic form of the semi-crystalline PCL nanocomposite films. Morphology included aggregated particles with heterogeneous distribution. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the degree of crystallinity of nanocomposites films increased in the presence of the nanopowders. Nanocomposites displayed poor thermal stability compared to PCL, but improved residue. Reflectance measurement revealed that the absorption edges of PCL shifted to higher wavelength with the addition of ZnO-CuO.