PVC doped with Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4 spinel ferrites nanoparticles: Fabrication, structural, optical, and radiation shielding properties

Abstract

In this work, (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nano-ferrites has been prepared by a flash auto combustion technique, then new films of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) doped with x(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nanoparticles: x = 0 (PVC/PNF0) – 10 (PVC/PNF10) wt% have been fabricated. The nature, physical, linear optical as well as γ-ray attenuation capacity of the fabricated PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) nanocomposites (NCs) sheets have been investigated. The crystalline state of (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NPs, and amorphous state of pure PVC, and PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) films were performed by XRD measurements. The density (ρ) increased from 1.4451 to 2.613 g cm−3 for PVC/PNF0 and PVC/PNF10 sheets as the (Pb0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4) NPs content increased from 0 to 10 wt%. The direct band gap (Egapdirect) decreased from 5.259 to 2.969 eV, whereas Urbach energy (EU) increased from 0.439 to 4.812 eV. The index of refraction (n) for the fabricated films increased with increasing the concentration of (Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NPs. The highest and lowest mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) values possessed at 0.015 and 15 MeV, respectively. The effective atomic number (Zeff) of the currently films followed the trend: (Zeff)PVC/PNF0 < (Zeff)PVC/PNF1 < (Zeff)PVC/PNF3 < (Zeff)PVC/PNF5 < (Zeff)PVC/PNF10. The half value layer (HVL) parameter possessed the trend: (HVL)PVC/PNF0 > (HVL)PVC/PNF1 > (HVL)PVC/PNF3 > (HVL)PVC/PNF5 > (HVL)PVC/PNF10. The fabricated PVC/(Ni0.5Pb0.5Fe2O4) NCs films can be used in electronic, optical, and radiation shielding applications.