Poly(vinyl alcohol)/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) polymer nanocomposites: Ecological preparation and application-oriented characterizations

This study focuses on the examinations and fabrication process of polymer nanocomposite (PNC) films comprising polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with different weight percentages of rGO. The preparation method involves a simple solution mixing and casting technique. Additionally, the presented research explores various aspects such as spectroscopic analysis, surface morphology evaluation, structural investigation, optical characterization, photoluminescence and FTIR behaviour assessment. X-ray diffractometer (XRD) is used to get structural information (quantifying the micro-strain and crystalline size via W–H plots). The crystalline size has range from ∼77 nm to 85 nm and micro-strain in the rage of (11.82 × 10−4 to10.04 × 10−4). Using FTIR, the presence of functional groups and their function in nanocomposites are also investigated. FESEM (with EDAX) is used to evaluate surface morphology, and the impact of rGO on the surface roughness of the nanocomposite film. Using a UV–Vis–NIR spectrophotometer, the optical parameters (refractive index, optical bandgap and Urbach energy) are assessed. The tuning of the optical bandgap, refractive index and Urbach energy has range from 4.57 eV to 2.67 eV; 2.06 to 2.49 and 0.56 to 1.23; for the 1, 2 and 3 wt% of rGO nanofiller, respectively, in the composites. The impact of wt.% of rGO on the PL spectra has been studied and variations in the colour co-ordinates, CRI, CCT, λd (dominant wavelength) and colour purity have been investigated. On behalf of investigation results, the prepared PNCs may be appropriate in fabricating the heterostructures based optoelectronic devices.