Tunable dielectric features of newly synthesized vanadium-doped titanium oxide nanoparticles doped liquid crystal nanocomposites

The synthesis of vanadium-doped titanium oxide nanoparticles (VTO NPs) using the co-precipitation method has been reported in the present work. The newly synthesized VTO NPs (~ 93 nm) were characterized using XRD, FTIR, UV–Vis, FESEM, and EDX techniques. Further, these NPs were doped in 4’-octyl-4-biphenylcarbonitrile (commonly known as 8CB) liquid crystal (LC) material at different concentrations (0.1 wt %, 0.25 wt % and 1.0 wt % VTO NPs-8CB nanocomposite) to modify its dielectric and conductivity features. The cross-polarised optical microscope was used to examine the uniform and stable doping of VTO NPs in 8CB, LC while the dielectric parameters and conductivity for pure and composite system in smectic A (SmA) and nematic (N) phases were measured using the frequency dependent dielectric spectroscopy. The dielectric permittivity (ɛʹ), dielectric loss (ɛʺ), and dielectric loss factor (tan δ) of 8CB, LC were significantly affected by the dopant in the low frequency regime. The relaxation process was analyzed using the Cole–Cole plot. DC conductivity was calculated by fitting the Jonscher Power Law and found to increase with the increase in concentration of VTO NPs and temperature. Moreover, dielectric anisotropy was evaluated for pure 8CB and VTO NPs-8CB nanocomposites and its value decreased in the case of nanocomposites. We certainly believe that our results would be useful for the fabrication of electronic devices with enhanced conductivity and storage capabilities.