XRD and UV–Vis studies of cellulose acetate film blended with different concentrations of nano-metal oxide

Abstract

AbstractMolybdenum Trioxide nanoparticle (MoO3-NPs) was introduced to Cellulose acetate (CA) biopolymer with different concentration using casting process by dispersed MoO3-NPs [0.0, 0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%]. Molecular structure of samples has been studied using XRD and UV–Vis. the data shown by X-ray results indicated the amorphous nature of the pure polymer. Some peaks are appeared as a result of the addition of MoO3-NPs which indicate that samples were partially crystallized. The crystallite size of nano-metal oxide was calculated for blended samples by Size–Strain Plot method which was found to increase with increasing the concentration of MoO3. UV–Vis results indicate that there exist two indirect energy band gaps; Onset band gap which observed to decreases from 1.3 eV for pure polymer to 0.78 eV for polymer blended with 1.0 wt% MoO3-NPs and HOMO–LOMO band gap which observed to decrease from 3.23 eV for pure polymer to 2.89 eV for polymer blended with 1.0 wt% MoO3-NPs. This indicate that the addition of nano-metal oxide improve the optical conduction of CA. Urbach energy was observed to increase with increasing MoO3-NPs from 0.27 eV for pure CA to 0.32 eV for 1.0 wt% MoO3-NPs concentration which may be occurred due to the creation localized states at the band gap as a result of the addition of MoO3-Nps.