Abstract
The films of polypyrrole–tin oxide (PPy–SnO~2~) nanocomposites were synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization technique. These films were irradiated with 90‐MeV O^7+^ ions at the fluences of 5 × 10^10^, 1 × 10^11^, 5 × 10^11^, and 1 × 10^12^ ions/cm^2^. X‐ray diffraction studies show that microstrain and domain crystallite size of SnO~2~ nanoparticles in PPy matrix increase with the increase of ion fluence, resulting in highly ordered PPy–SnO~2~ nanocomposites. TGA analysis shows that the SnO~2~ nanoparticles inhibit the degradation of PPy, thereby enhancing the thermal stability of the PPy–SnO~2~ nanocomposites. DC electrical conductivity is found to increase with the increase of fluence and conduction mechanism follows a one‐dimensional variable‐range hopping model. AC electrical conductivity also increases with the increase of ion fluence and obeys correlated barrier‐hopping model. I–V characteristics of the PPy–SnO~2~ nanocomposites exhibit Schottky barrier formation at the PPy/SnO~2~ interface. The photoluminescence intensity of the PPy–SnO~2~ nanocomposite increases with the increase of ion fluence, which can be attributed to the thermal detrapping of charge carriers owing to the enormous energy transfer during swift, heavy‐ion irradiation.