Engineering the Physical Properties of Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blend Films by Adding Tb–NiO Nanoparticles for Flexible Optoelectronics Applications

Abstract

Polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP)-polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) (1:1) polymer mixture films were developed using the solution-casting technique. Physical properties engineering of as grown chemical casting films were achieved through the Tb–NiO nanoparticles mixing in a polymer blend with different content of 0.0, 0.037, 0.37, 1.85, and 3.7 wt%. The variation of physical properties of nanocomposites thin layer was examined from X-ray diffractometer, atomic force microscope (AFM), FTIR spectroscopy, and Uv-visible spectroscopy. Optical band gaps of polymer nanocomposites films were calculated to study the influence of Tb–NiO nanoparticle doping are decreased after addition of Tb–NiO nanostructures in the composites. AFM images of films reveal successful adsorption of Tb–NiO nanoparticles in polymer blend. In addition, FTIR spectra showed successful loading of Tb–NiO nanoparticles in PVP/PVA blend matrix. The extinction coefficients, refractive index, optical dielectric constant and optical conductivity were also investigated in correlation with different wt% Tb–NiO doping concentrations. In addition, the values of oscillator, dispersion energiesEo,Edand static refractive indicesnowere calculated. The optical limiting behavior of films showed that the polymer nanocomposite films are suitable for flexible optoelectronics devices.