Dielectric and conductivity behaviors of nano ZnO doped polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites for various concentrations of dopant were investigated using impedance spectroscopy for a wide range of temperatures (303 K–423 K) and frequencies (5 Hz–30 MHZ). The dielectric properties of host polymer matrix have been improved by the addition of nano ZnO and are found to be highly temperature dependent. Anomalous dielectric behavior was observed in the frequency range of 2.5 MHz–5 MHz. Increase in dielectric permittivity and dielectric loss was observed with respect to temperature. The Cole-Cole plot could be modeled by low resistance regions in a high resistance matrix and the lowest resistance was observed for the 10 mol. % films. The imaginary part of the electric modulus showed asymmetric peaks with the relaxation following Debye nature below and non-Debye nature above the peaks. The ac conductivity is found to obey Jonscher's power law, whereas the variation of dc conductivity with temperature was found to follow Arrhenius behavior. Two different activation energy values were obtained from Arrhenius plot indicating that two conduction mechanisms are involved in the composite films. Fitting the ac conductivity data to Jonscher's law indicates that large polaron assisted tunneling is the most likely conduction mechanism in the composites. Maximum conductivity is observed at 423 K for all the samples and it is optimum for 10 mol. % ZnO doped PVA composite film. Significant increase in dc and ac conductivities in these composite films makes them a potential candidate for application in electronic devices.

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PVA–CeO2 nanocomposite films were synthesized by solution casting method and exhibit tape like nanoribbon structure in the 25 wt% CeO2 films. The 2.5 wt% and 25 wt% CeO2 films are suitable for UV filters while the 2.5 wt% film shows highest photoluminescence.

Gd 2 O 3 nanoparticles synthesized by solution combustion method were used to prepare PVA-Gd 2 O 3 nanocomposite films of varying concentrations (2 wt%-6 wt% of filler) by solution casting method. Being a rare earth oxide, gadolinium oxide was expected to exhibit good photoluminescence and the nanocomposite was expected to be flexible as well. The Gd 2 O 3 nanoparticles prepared were found to be in cubic phase with an average size of 19 nm. Raman spectra showed the incorporation of Gd 2 O 3 into the polymer matrix. Scanning electron microscope images revealed that the particles were porous in nature, agglomerated and distributed evenly on the surface of the film in the form of clusters. The UV-Visible absorption spectra gave direct optical energy band gap value in the range 5.78-4.86 eV. Both band gap as well as the Urbach energy are seen to decrease with increasing concentration of the dopant. Four prominent photoluminescence peaks were observed in all the three composite films in the UV region (318 nm), deep blue region (396 nm), blue region (477 nm) and green region (553 nm). The color purity of the films using CIE coordinates was found to be the highest, 82.81%, in the 2 wt% film making this film a promising material for blue OLED's and blue flexible screens.

The aim of this present work is to investigate the effect of plasticizers like Sorbitol on microstructural and mechanical properties of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) blend films. The pure blend and plasticized blend films were prepared by solution casting method and investigated using wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) method. WAXS analysis confirms that the plasticizers can enter into macromolecular blend structure and destroy the crystallinity of the films. FTIR spectra show that there are a shift and decrease in the intensity of the peaks confirming the interaction of plasticizer with the blend. Mechanical properties like tensile strength and Young’s Modulus decrease up to 0.6% of Sorbitol content in the films. Percentage of elongation at break increases suggesting that the plasticized films are more flexible than pure blend films. These films are suitable to be used as environmental friendly and biodegradable packaging films.