Preparation and Investigation of PVA/Cu Nanoparticles by Eco-friendly Electrochemical Method

Abstract Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) /Cupper nanocomposite samples have been prepared electrochemically with different times of electropolymerization process. The characterization of prepared samples has been carried out using different techniques such as, X-ray diffraction, FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. XRD patterns showed that, with increasing Cupper nanoparticles (CuNPs) content, the crystal size (D hkl) values are decreased whereas the internal strain values of PVA/Cu nanocomposite samples are increased, indicating that a crystal distortion and defects have been occurred in PVA matrix. FTIR spectroscopy revealed that the incorporation of CuNPs induced modifications in the PVA structure. The presence of the characteristic surface plasmon resonance peak at 773 nm in the absorption spectra of the PVA/CuNPs composite samples confirmed the formation of copper nanoparticles. Analysis of UV-Vis spectra showed that the indirect and direct optical bandgap energies of PVA/CuNPs samples decreased with increasing the CuNPs content. On the other hand, an increase in the refractive index of PVA is observed with increasing concentration of CuNPs. The decrease in the band gap and the increase in conductivity due to the formation of localized electronic states in the PVA host matrix due to the introduction of copper nanoparticles can be related.