The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of CuO nanoparticles on the structural, thermal and electrical properties of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thin films. The thin films were prepared by a solution casting technique with different weight percentages viz., 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt% of CuO nanoparticles in PVA matrix. The fabricated nanocomposite thin films were structurally characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, while differential scanning calorimetry indicated the effect of CuO nanoparticles on thermal properties of PVA. The surface morphology of the films was determined by scanning electron microscopy technique. Dielectric properties were analysed using high frequency LCR metre and were found to be dependent on frequency and CuO concentration. Dielectric constant decreased with increase in both frequency and CuO concentration. Dielectric loss increased with frequency increase and decreased with increase in CuO concentration. AC conductivity increased with increase in frequency. PVA-2.0 wt% CuO nanocomposite was found to possess desirable properties such as low dielectric constant and low dielectric loss which makes it a desirable material for use in microelectronics industry.

This study has been conducted to investigate the effect of incorporating CuO nanoparticles inside PVA matrix with the aim of enhancing the mechanical properties of PVA for reinforcement purposes. Films were prepared by solution intercalation technique with 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 wt% CuO nanofiller content taking neat PVA as the reference for the study. Structural characterisations of the prepared nanocomposite films were carried out by FTIR, SEM and XRD techniques. Various mechanical parameters such as tensile strength, elastic modulus, flexural strength and toughness were investigated and significant enhancement in the properties of polyvinyl alcohol films containing CuO nanofillers was observed. Elastic modulus and toughness showed a linear relation with respect to nanofiller concentration at low wt%, whereas at higher wt% of CuO, the nature was observed to be non-linear. PVA-2.0 wt% CuO nanocomposite showed the highest values of flexural strength, toughness and tensile strength among all the fabricated nanocomposite films.

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