TiO2–multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposites: hydrothermal synthesis and temporally-dependent optical properties†
Abstract
Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/TiO2 nanocomposites have been prepared by a hydrothermal method and characterized by Fourier-transform infrared, Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, X-ray powder diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. Their viability as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials has been examined using the Z-scan technique at 532 nm with both nanosecond and picosecond laser pulses, the NLO and optical limiting (OL) performance being found to be dependent on the TiO2 content. At the wavelength used, an enhanced OL response was observed for the M1.00 nanocomposite and ascribed to a combination of mechanisms.