Abstract
Pure silica nanoparticles (SNPs) have been successfully obtained by thermal treatment of rice husk through a sol-gel surfactant free technique. Different concentrations of SNPs were embedded within the poly(vinyl chloride-co-vinyl acetate-co-2-hydroxypropyl acrylate) (PVVH) copolymer matrix via a solvent casting method. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) confirmed the amorphous nature for PVVH combined with an increase in the amorphous regions after addition of SNPs. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet/visible (UV/Vis.) spectroscopy revealed the induced changes in chemical structure and optical parameters (i.e. optical energy gap E (g) , refractive index n) for PVVH/SNPs composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was performed to study the surface morphology and homogeneity of the prepared samples.