Nanocomposite films containing metal particles distributed in non-conducting (oxide or polymer) matrix are very interesting and promising materials due to their exceptional mechanical, electrical and optical properties. There can be found interesting correlations between morphological properties and electrical conductivity of such structures. However theoretical approach usually leads to difficulties. For that reason a self-made computer experiment for the study of both transport and morphological properties of nanocomposite films was prepared and performed.
The morphological analysis allows one to characterize the forms and spatial distribution of metal objects in the matrix of nanocomposite film. Nanocomposite structures exhibit interesting properties and behaviour in the range bellow and near the percolation threshold above all. The possible input information can be either projections or planar sections of sufficiently thin nanocomposite films, both obtained from TEM. The film morphology is described by characteristics and features acquired by algorithms based on the theory of mathematical morphology.
Electrical conductivity is one of important properties of nanocomposite film. The overbearing mechanism of charge transport in structures below and near the percolation threshold is tunel effect. Monte Carlo simulations of charge transport through these structures were perfomed. In the contribution the correlations between morphological and electrical properties of simulated nanocomposite structures are studied, described and discussed. These results can bring another source of information for the partial reconstruction of nanocomposite structures from two-dimensional information only.
|