Abstract
Polymer nanocomposites composed of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs)-doped polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer matrix have been synthesized using solvent casting preparation method. The ZnO/PVA polymer nanocomposite films are irradiated with different argon ion beam fluences using broad-beam ion source. The prepared films are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-visible spectroscopy. The XRD shows that ZnO NPs are successfully formed on PVA polymer and the mean size of ZnO NPs is 31.2 nm. The FTIR peaks indicate that ZnO NPs are attached to the polymer chains, whereas the SEM analysis shows that ZnO NPs are homogeneously dispersed into the PVA polymer surface. The optical bandgap, band tail width and number of carbon atoms in cluster are obtained and discussed using UV-visible spectroscopy. The transmittance is shown with low transmittance intensity in the UV region with the addition of ZnO NPs and ion beam irradiation. The optical bandgap E-g showed significant decrease from 5.25 eV for pristine PVA to 3.10 eV by adding ZnO and from 3.10 eV for un-irradiated ZnO/PVA to 2.98 eV after being irradiated by 1.5 ions . cm(-2). The number of carbon atoms in cluster N is increased by ZnO addition, whereas the Urbach energy E-a is decreased. These results confirmed that there are significant modifications in PVA polymer, and the produced flexible ZnO/PVA is a good polymer nanocomposite film for technological applications.