Performance relative study of metal oxide nanoparticles on mechanical, thermal, and optical characteristics of gamma‐irradiated poly (vinyl alcohol) nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) filled with different types of nanometal oxides named MgO, Al2O3, and CuO were attained from an aqueous solution of PVA. PVA/nanometal oxide films were achieved by the solution casting procedure. The prepared nanocomposites were subjected to a gamma radiation dose at 50 kGy to study the impact of ionizing radiation on the various properties of the prepared samples. In this context, this work was mainly concerned with the differences in the behavior of various metal oxides, as well as the effect of ionizing radiation on the tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (E%), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X‐ray diffraction, and optical characteristics of the fabricated specimens. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), SEM, and thermodynamic factors (Ea, ΔH, ΔG, and ΔS) were considered. FTIR and the suggested reaction mechanism supported that the hydroxyl groups of PVA have a really strong affinity to form charge‐transfer complexes with different nanometal oxides done chelation. In general, the interference of 0.1% of all studied nanometal oxides improved TS, thermal stability, melting temperature, and optical properties of PVA, whereas PVA/0.1 CuO was the best. Moreover, gamma radiation exposure enhanced the different properties of native PVA and displayed anisotropic behavior toward its nanocomposites.