Effect of Zinc Oxide on the Optical Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite

Abstract

In this work, the conventional casting method was utilized to synthesize nanocomposites based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and both zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and graphene oxide (GO). ZnO-NPs have been synthesized by the co-precipitation method while GO with Hummer's method. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy. Films have been abbreviated to contain different amounts of ZnO as follows: (2, 4, 6, and 8 wt%) and constant amount of GO (2 wt.%) within the PVA matrix using an ultrasonic system to disperse ZnO and GO in the PVA matrix completely. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized optically by utilizing a UV–Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The addition of nanofiller to PVA increases the absorption of PVA. At the same time, the optical band gap (for both direct and indirect transitions) was diminished as they depend on the ZnO and GO concentration. PVA/ZnO and PVA/GO nanocomposites present good optical properties. This confirmed that the synthesized ZnO and GO- substituted PAV can be utilized as a solid polymer electrolyte in optoelectronic applications.