Abstract
In this paper the structural and optical properties of pure Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and La3+-doped PVA films in the concentration range of 4%, 12% and 20% weight percent of Lanthanum were prepared by the conventional casting technique. X-ray diffraction pattern and atomic force microscopy studies of the investigated samples reveal their semi-crystalline nature. It is found that, absorption coefficient and cluster size of lanthanum:PVA composite increase with increasing salt concentration. However, the optical energy gap shows a slight decreasing trend.
•PVA:La3+ composite films were prepared by conventional casting technique.•XRD pattern of the prepared samples were recorded.•Gaussian fitting for XRD peaks have been performed for particle size evaluation.•AFM microscopy of the prepared samples confirmed the semicrystalline nature of the films.•Optical absorption edge and energy gap were estimated.