Synthesis of PVA/CeO2 Based Nanocomposites with Tuned Refractive Index and Reduced Absorption Edge: Structural and Optical Studies

Shujahadeen B Aziz; Elham M A Dannoun; Dana A Tahir; Sarkawt A Hussen; Rebar T Abdulwahid; Muaffaq M Nofal; Ranjdar M Abdullah; Ahang M Hussein; Iver Brevik

doi:10.3390/ma14061570

Synthesis of PVA/CeO₂ Based Nanocomposites with Tuned Refractive Index and Reduced Absorption Edge: Structural and Optical Studies

Materials (Basel). 2021 Mar 23;14(6):1570. doi: 10.3390/ma14061570.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Hameed Majid Advanced Polymeric Materials Research Lab., Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Qlyasan Street, Sulaimani 46001, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
² Department of Civil engineering, College of Engineering, Komar University of Science and Technology, Sulaimani 46001, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq.
³ Associate Director of General Science Department, Woman Campus, Prince Sultan University, P.O. Box 66833, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Physics, College of Science, University of Halabja, Halabja 46018, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
⁵ Department of Physics, College of Education, University of Sulaimani, Old Campus, Sulaimani 46001, Iraq.
⁶ Department of Mathematics and General Sciences, Prince Sultan University, P.O. Box 66833, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract

In the current study, polymer nanocomposites (NCPs) based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with altered refractive index and absorption edge were synthesized by means of a solution cast technique. The characterization techniques of UV-Vis spectroscopy and XRD were used to inspect the structural and optical properties of the prepared films. The XRD patterns of the doped samples have shown clear amendments in the structural properties of the PVA host polymer. Various optical parameters were studied to get more insights about the influence of CeO₂ on optical properties of PVA. On the insertion of CeO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) into the PVA matrix, the absorption edge was found to move to reduced photon energy sides. It was concluded that the CeO₂ nanoparticles can be used to tune the refractive index (n) of the host polymer, and it reached up to 1.93 for 7 wt.% of CeO₂ content. A detailed study of the bandgap (BG) was conducted using two approaches. The outcomes have confirmed the impact of the nanofiller on the BG reduction of the host polymer. The results of the optical BG study highlighted that it is crucial to address the ε" parameter during the BG analysis, and it is considered as a useful tool to specify the type of electronic transitions. Finally, the dispersion region of n is conferred in terms of the Wemple-DiDomenico single oscillator model.

Keywords: CeO2 nanoparticle; PVA; UV–Vis investigation; XRD analysis; bandgap calculation; optical properties.