Optical, structural and thermal properties of hybrid PVA/CaAl2ZrO6 nanocomposite films

Abstract

This report focuses on fabrication, characterization, and fundamental optical, structural and thermal properties of PVA/calcium aluminum doped zirconate (CaAl₂ZrO₆) nanocomposites (NCs) films. The PVA-NCs with different amounts <em>viz.,</em> 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt% of calcium aluminum zirconate (CaAl₂ZrO₆) have been fabricated using solvent casting technique. The NC films structural and morphology have been investigated by X-ray diffraction, FTIR and scanning electron microscopy. TEM result indicates that the size of nanoparticles (NPs) lies in the range 10-23nm.. Thermal studies have been evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The optical properties of NCs has been investigated by UV-vis spectroscopy, where the optical study reveals an increased refractive index from 1.22 to 2.23 at a wave length of 300 nm, where as the band gap energy (E_g) is reduced from 5.01 to 3.32 eV for PVA to PVA/8wt% CaAl₂ZrO₆ , respectively. The dielectric studies, optical conductivity measurements and Urbach energy analysis also supports the dopant dependent optical property, tuning of PVA/CaAl₂ZrO₆ NC films to enable effective material property engineering to suit specified application requirements.