Influence of argon irradiations on modifying the surface properties and optical behavior of polymer composite films.

The composites PVA/CuO, which is made of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) are created by the solution casting production process. The surface properties of the PVA/CuO composite were then altered using a cold cathode ion source for using these samples in optical devices. The PVA/CuO samples were exposed to argon fluencies of 3 × 10¹⁷, 6 × 10¹⁷, and 9 × 10¹⁷ ions.cm⁻². By raising the fluence from 3 × 10¹⁷ to 9 × 10¹⁷ ions.cm⁻², the contact angle is reduced from to 48.43° to 32.52°, while the work of adhesion increased from 119.93 mJ/m to a 132.86 mJ/m. Using the Wemple and Di-Domenico approach, the optical characteristics were computed. The absorption edge is reduced from 2.71 eV for PVA/CuO to 2.56, 1.99, and 1.82 eV, for the samples as exposed to 3 × 10¹⁷, 6 × 10¹⁷, and 9 × 10¹⁷ ions.cm⁻² respectively. And the Urbach tail changed from 1.3 eV for the pure film to 1.6, 1.66, and 4.23 eV, and the bandgaps decrease from 3.67 eV to 3.56 eV, 3.48 eV, and 3.32 eV. The obtained results shows the irradiated PVA/CuO films are more applicable for use in optical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]