Synthesis and characterization of Fe2O3 nanoparticles incorporated PVA nanocomposite films

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol–iron oxide nanocomposite (PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC) films have been formed when iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe₂O₃ NPs) are incorporated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) base matrix. In this study, for the preparation of a series of PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films, different weight percentages (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 wt. %) of Fe₂O₃ NPs have been added into the PVA solution using the solution cast method. The morphological and spectroscopic properties of the PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis) spectroscopy techniques. XRD studies reveal that the original structure of the Fe₂O₃ NPs is preserved in the PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films, and the crystallinity of the PVA-Fe₂O₃NC films has been increased. The SEM images confirm that the Fe₂O₃ NPs have been homogeneously distributed in 3-dimension with dots and rod-like structures. The UV-visible investigations have been carried out for the series of PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films, which result in a significant change in opto-electronic properties. With an increasing weight percentage of Fe₂O₃ NPs in the PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films, the direct bandgap decreased from 5.39 eV to 5.01 eV, the indirect bandgap decreased from 4.73 eV to 3.27 eV, the Urbach energy increased from 0.428 eV to 0.538 eV, the linear refractive index increased from 1.63 to 5.86, and the extinction coefficient increased from 1.86 X 10^-6 to 1.74 X 10^-5. These results have shown that the spectroscopic properties of PVA-Fe₂O₃ NC films are modified considerably with the small addition of Fe₂O₃ NPs in the PVA matrix, which are useful for optoelectronic applications.