Surface and dielectric studies of PVC-PVP blend films for green electronics

Abstract

In the present communication, an attempt has been made to prepare and study surface and dielectric properties of polyvinylchloride-polyvinylpyrrolidone blend films. Surface properties such as water absorption, contact angle, surface free energy of the films have been measured to investigate the interaction of blend films with water. These measurements reveal that on increasing the weight percentage concentration of polyvinylpyrrolidone in polyvinylchloride, hydrophilicity of the films increases. The surface free energy increases with increasing concentration of polyvinylpyrrolidone in polyvinylchloride, which indicates that these films tend to adsorb more moisture and dust particles from atmosphere thereby affecting its ageing and rendering it degradability. Further the dielectric properties in the low frequency range (1 kHz – 2 MHz) have been studied. The results show that the dielectric constant, loss tangent and ac conductivity of blend films increase as the weight percentage concentration of polyvinylpyrrolidone is raised. Amongst various compositions of polyvinylchloride-polyvinylpyrrolidone films studied, it is the blend film having 50% weight concentration of polyvinylchloride and polyvinylpyrrolidone each which exhibits improved mechanical flexibility, better degradability and modulated dielectric properties. This biodegradable low-cost composition can find application in field of green electronics.