Investigation of Photodegradation Preventing of Polyvinyl Alcohol/Nanoclay Composites

The effects of UV irradiation on chemical, thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH)/2 wt.% of nanoclay(NC) filler were investigated. PVOH composite films were prepared from PVOH blend with fixed content (2%) of NC via the solution casting method. Pure PVOH and PVOH composites were exposed to 340 nm fluorescent UV lamps and assessed for 50 h, 100 h, and 200 h UV exposue. The experimental results such as Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) confirmed that 2% wt. NC filler is efficient and can resist chemical degradation that is caused by ultraviolet irradiation (UV). The carbonyl and hydroxyl indices were increased with increasing the UV exposure irradiation times of both PVOH and PVOH composite. However, the PVOH nanocomposites exhibited more resistant to increasing the indices after exposure to UV irradiation with a longer exposure time. The thermal results (TGA) indicated that PVOH nanocomposite is exhibited more resistance to thermal degradation after UV irradiation exposure compared to that of pure PVOH sample. From DMA results, the storage of modulus was reduced after exposure to UV irradiation of PVOH and PVOH nanocomposites. The results of Tg of PVOH nanocomposites increased after the incorporation of 2% wt. NC into PVOH after exposure to UV irradiation. PVOH nanocomposite exhibited more resistance to reduce the tensile strength after exposure to 200 h UV irradiation. XRD tests showed that PVOH/2 wt.% NC nanocomposites have more resistant to increase intensity after exposure to 200 h UV irradiation compared to that of PVOH sample. The morphology micrographs showed that no obvious cracks on the PVOH nanocomposite after UV irradiation exposure by comparing to that of pure PVOH.