Effect of rGO nanoparticles on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of CaCO₃ nanocomposite

Abstract

Nanocomposites offer enhanced mechanical properties, increased functionalities, and improved manufacturing processes by incorporating nanoscale fillers into a matrix material. Therefore, nanocomposites outperform constituent materials in mechanical, electrical, optical, and chemical properties and help to develop advanced lightweight and intelligent materials. The authors used a novel method to develop nano-reduced graphene oxide (rGO) doped nanocomposite, which is simple, fast, chemical free, and non-hazardous. Nanocomposite is synthesised using an in-house developed portable ball mill (6–9 V DC supply, 100 rpm) by varying the weight percentage (1–5%) of rGO in CaCO₃. Characterisations such as Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), X-ray Diffraction, UV–Vis Spectroscopy (UV), and Raman analysis are performed to examine the morphological, optical, and chemical bonding, respectively. FESEM confirms the homogeneous mixing of two different nanoparticles. Furthermore, UV spectroscopy shows that adding rGO increases absorbance while decreasing the optical band gap from 2.04 eV to 1.83 eV. The effect of rGO doping on CaCO₃ electron excitation is significant.

Keywords:

• rGO
• CaCO₃
• FESEM
• optical band gap
• absorbance

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Harish Biswakarma from the Mechanical Engineering Department of IIT, Dhanbad, and BIT Mesra Ranchi for extending their support for the characterisation of nanocomposite during this research work.

Authors’ contributions

All authors have the same contribution to the article.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

There are no conflicts of interest to declare.