Synthesis and characterization of composites of poly(benzaldehyde-co-thiophene)/ TiO₂

In this study, we prepared composites of poly(benzaldehyde-co-thiophene) (PBT) and titanium oxide (TiO₂) at varying rates of TiO₂ (3%, 7%, and 10%). The copolymer was synthesized using the chemical oxidative polymerization method, and the composites were prepared by mixing PBT and TiO2 in dichloromethane at room temperature for 24 h. The materials were then analyzed using several techniques, including Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV/visible spectroscopy, and electrical conductivity measurements. The X-ray diffraction results revealed an amorphous structure of PBT and a semi-crystalline structure of the composites. The synthesis efficiency of the copolymer/TiO₂ composites was confirmed by FTIR, while UV/visible spectroscopy was used to determine the optical properties of the PBT and composites. The results showed that the optical band gap of the PBT was 2.30 eV, which decreased to 2.19 eV with increasing TiO₂ doping rate to 10%. The refractive index of the copolymer was 3.64 and decreased to 3.02 for the composite containing 3% of TiO₂ before increasing again for the other two samples. Finally, the electrical conductivity of the copolymer and composites varied between 8.00 × 10^–8 S.cm⁻¹ and 3.40 × 10^–4 S.cm⁻¹.