THE EFFECT OF NANOQUARTZ ON THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF IPP

This study investigates the effect of nanoquartz (SiO₂) nanoparticles on the optical properties of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) composites.SiO₂ was added to iPP at various concentrations (1%, 3%, 5%, 7%, and 10%) to investigate changes in optical transmission, absorption spectra, and optical band gap.The results show a decrease in optical transmission as the SiO₂ concentration increases, with the material exhibiting stronger scattering and absorption effects.The absorption edge shifts toward longer wavelengths (redshift), indicating a narrowing of the optical band gap.This change was further confirmed by the Tauc method, which showed a decrease in band gap with increasing nanoparticle content.In addition, the Urbach energy, which reflects material disorder, was observed to increase with higher SiO₂ concentrations.This suggests that the incorporation of nanoparticles introduces localized defects and structural inhomogeneities into the polymer matrix.These results demonstrate that nanoquartz SiO₂ significantly modifies the optical behavior of iPP composites, enhancing their potential for use in optoelectronic devices where controlled optical properties such as light absorption and bandgap tuning are critical to performance.