Enhancement of Dielectric Response and Optical Bandgap Tuning with Improving Surface Morphology of Recyclable Polyvinyl Alcohol–CeO2 Polymer Nanocomposites

Abstract

Motivated from the extraordinary properties of CeO2 nanomaterial, this article is directed toward the synthesis of recyclable polyvinyl alcohol–CeO2 polymer nanocomposite with variable wt% of CeO2 and investigating their improvements in structural, electrical, optical, and surface properties. The crystalline size and micro‐strain are measured using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) data. Ultraviolet–visible–near‐infrared spectrophotometer is used to study the optical characteristics. Absorbance with redshift is found to enhance; while optical bandgap is reduced from 2.51 to 2.36 eV on increasing wt% of CeO2 nanofiller. The mechanism of reduction in bandgap is supported by the XRD analysis. Refractive index is found to vary from 2.54 to 2.59 and the range of Urbach energy varies from 1.19 to 0.42 eV on increasing the amount of nanofillers. Surface morphology, dielectric constant, and electrical conductivity are also found to improve with increasing wt% of nanofiller. The dielectric constant is improved from 60 to 120 at 1.5 Hz. The rise in conductivity with increasing wt% of CeO2 and rising frequency is due to the enhancement of mobility of the charge carriers and ionic hopping mechanism in conduction process. Characterization outcomes suggest that the prepared composites can be claimed as useful in fabricating the flexible optoelectronic devices.