Optical, mechanical, and thermal behavior of poly(vinyl alcohol) composite films embedded with biosafe and optically active poly(amide–imide)-ZnO quantum dot nanocomposite as a novel reinforcement

Abstract

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), a polyhydroxy polymer, is the synthetic resin produced in the world due to the physical properties and complete biodegradability. This work tries to introduce novel reinforcement for PVA to improve properties without effect on its biocompatibility. The present investigation deals with the fabrication of new PVA/poly(amide–imide)-zinc oxide nanocomposites (PVA/PAI–ZnO NCs) with different PAI–ZnO loading by using ultrasound irradiation. At first, the surface of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) was modified by biosafe diacid for the better dispersion of NPs and increasing possible interactions between NPs and PAI. Then, PAI–ZnO was used as filler in the PVA matrix. Surface morphology results were amazing. The TEM images and related histograms show a noticeable size decreasing of ZnO NPs from about 31 to 3 nm after preparation of NCs. Other analyses showed that the reinforcement of PAI–ZnO NC into the PVA matrix enhances mechanical and thermal properties of the PVA composites.