Fabrication, surface characterization and effect of oxygen irradiation on polymeric nanocomposite films.

This study addressed the preparation of nanocomposites consisting of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and titanium oxide (TiO2) for utilization in optoelectronics technologies. PVA/10%TiO2 nanocomposite samples with a mean thickness of 0.1mm were created using the solution casting method. The PVA/TiO2 films are irradiated with oxygen fluences of 0.4×1017, 0.8×1017 and 1.2×1017 ions/cm2. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and FTIR methodologies were employed to investigate the impact of ion bombardment on the structural characteristics and functional groups of PVA/TiO2 substrates. Diffraction peaks are 20.1° for PVA and 25.4° for TiO2, indicating the successful PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite construction. The absorbance (A) of unirradiated and irradiated samples was measured using UV–Vis spectroscopy within a wavelength range of 200–1100nm. Band gaps (Eg) were calculated using Tauc’s formula for PVA/TiO2 films, exhibiting a decrease from 4.56eV for unirradiated PVA/TiO2 film to 4.16, 3.95 and 3.88eV at ion fluences of 0.4×1017, 0.8×1017 and 1.2×1017 ions/cm2, respectively. Furthermore, the Ubrach tail has a rise of 1.23eV for unirradiated PVA/TiO2 to 1.28eV, 1.4eV and 1.77eV for irradiated films with ion fluences of 0.4×1017, 0.8×1017 and 1.2×1017 ions/cm2, respectively. Additionally, following ion irradiation, the PVA/TiO2 absorption edge Ee, which was 3.56eV, decreased to 3.48, 3.37 and 3.23eV, with increasing ion beam fluences. This study demonstrated that the optical behaviors of the PVA/TiO2 films were altered under bombardment, suggesting their potential applicability in optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]