Synthesis and characterization of PEG/CS‐AgNO3 polymer nanocomposites for flexible optoelectronic and energy storage applications

Abstract The Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Chitosan (CS)/silver nitrate (AgNO 3 ) thin films were prepared by utilizing the casting technique to enhance their optical, dielectric, and electrical properties. Their physicochemical characteristics were investigated using a variety of techniques. The FT‐IR study demonstrates that the addition of AgNO 3 NPs results in a discernible difference in the intensities and locations of vibrational peaks of all bands, supporting the incorporation of AgNO 3 NPs inside the PEG/CS. The XRD analysis indicates that the peak at 2θ = 23.1° broadens and strengthens proportionally with the increase of AgNO 3 NPs. This observation suggests that the incorporation of AgNO 3 NPs into PEG/CS results in a greater degree of amorphous characteristics compared to the PEG/CS blend. Additionally, when the amount of AgNO 3 NPs increases in the PEG/CS, the energy band gap decreases, resulting in the creation of localized states between the valence and conduction bands. These polymer nanocomposite films' electrical conductivity, dielectric constant, and dielectric loss all increased with frequency increased and showed variance for various composite concentrations. These AgNO 3 NPs/PEG/CS films can be promising options for frequency‐tunable nanodielectrics, flexible dielectric substrates, and bandgap‐regulated materials for upcoming microelectronic, capacitive energy storage, and optoelectronic technologies, according to the experimental results. Highlights AgNO 3 NPs/PEG/CS nanocomposites films were obtained. The optical properties of the prepared films were calculated. Optical energy‐gap for prepared samples was reduced after adding AgNO 3 NPs. The dielectric properties of the AgNO 3 NPs/PEG/CS films are improved. AgNO 3 NPs/PEG/CS films were suggested to be used in energy storage devices.