Influence of Ce and Ti oxides doping on the PMMA polymer: structural, optical, THz, dielectric, and antimicrobial characteristics

Polymer specifications’ optimization for tailored applications is desirable for enhanced applicability. In this research, we have successfully prepared the PMMA/metal oxide (0.1 wt% CeO₂, and TiO₂) through a feasible casting method. The implications of the metal oxides incorporation were explored. XRD reveals the successful formation of the composites, with 20 nm crystallite size of both composites. FTIR reinforces the intended composite formation with significant bands allocation. Optical bandgaps for PMMA/CeO₂ and PMMA/TiO₂ are 2.91 and 3.15 eV for direct transitions, respectively. For indirect transitions, the bandgap is around 3.33 eV for both. Other optical parameters were calculated as real and imaginary dielectric constants. THz displays a linear manner with a somewhat more PMMA fixed band due to the inharmony of intermolecular vibration mode. Dielectric studies manifest polymer loss spectra with multiple non-Debye relaxation progressions β, and γ relaxations alongside MVS polarization for films containing CeO₂ or TiO₂. The synthesized nanocomposites indicated antibacterial influence against (S. aureus, and B. subtilis) as Gram-positive bacteria, and (E. coli, and K. pneumoniae) as Gram-negative bacteria, (C. albicans) (A. niger) as yeast and Fungi strains. The PC samples show a high impact against Gram-positive bacteria, yeast, and Fungi strains, while PT samples show a high impact against Gram-negative bacteria.