Nano-Ag Doping Induced Changes in the Optical Behavior and Thermal Stability of Acrylic Acid-Grafted Poly Vinyl Alcohol Copolymer Films

Abstract

Metal–polymer nanocomposites have been prepared from an aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol/acrylic acid (PVA/AAc) and silver nitrate (AgNO₃). The functionalized PVA/AAc was copolymerized and cross-linked using electron beam irradiation. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by FTIR, TEM and TGA. The average grain size is in the range of 15–44 nm, depending on Ag concentration. The thermal stability was found to increase and the optical band gap decreased with the increase of dopant concentration. The real and imaginary parts of the dielectric constant, optical conductivity, volume energy loss (VELF) and surface energy loss (SELF) of the films were also determined.

Keywords:

• Band gap
• Nano
• Optical conductivity
• PVA
• Radiation
• SELF
• VELF