Films of pure polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and its manganese chloride filled polymer composite film (MPVA) were prepared and their optical properties were evaluated. XRD, UV-vis, and FTIR analyses reveal that there is strong interaction between polyvinyl alcohol and manganese chloride. Interchain separation (R) for pristine PVA and MPVA composite films was found as 5.60 and 4.69 Ǻ , respectively, thus showing polymer chains are more compact in MPVA. Optical band gap of polyvinyl alcohol was reduced on incorporation of manganese chloride in polyvinyl alcohol to cause approximately 2.5-fold increase in optical conductivity. Refractive index of MPVA was found to be higher than that of PVA in the visible range up to 710 nm but beyond that it became lower than that of PVA. Abbe Number was decreased on incorporation of manganese chloride to PVA with concomitant increase in dispersion energy. Urbach energy (E u ) for PVA and MPVA was found to be 0.70 and 0.82 eV, respectively. AFM study reveals formation of sunflower like assembled texture at nano-scale level in MPVA film and it exhibits a higher root mean square (RMS) roughness and absorbance than those of pristine PVA film. Average oscillation wavelength (λ 0 ) was found to be close to the respective absorption edge; and MPVA showed higher oscillation strength (S 0 ) than that of PVA. POLYM. COMPOS., 40:E765-E775, 2019.POLYMER COMPOSITES-2019 FIG. 1. XRD record of (a) PVA film and (b) MPVA film; Inset shows the XRD record of manganese chloride. E766 POLYMER COMPOSITES-2019 DOI 10.1002/pc FIG. 2. FTIR spectra of (a) pure PVA and (b) MPVA films. The magnified version of spectra in the box is shown at the top.

PVA/Co/Ag film has been prepared by sputtering Co followed by Ag in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix film by IBS technique, so as to get a 9 nm (thick) layer of Co metal nanoparticles followed by a protective 4 nm (thick) layer of Ag nanoparticles. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction (GIXRD) pattern of the film reveals the formation of nanocrystalline Co with hcp phase. GIXRD pattern also indicates that there is no change in the crystalline structure of PVA even after sputtering of the metallic nanoparticles. The average particle size of Co nanoparticles as evaluated using Scherrer formula is found to be about 2.64 nm. UV visible absorption pattern of the film sample showed SPR peaks of Co and Ag metals in their nano size level embedded in the PVA matrix system. XPS study confirms the metallic nature of Co and Ag nanoparticles; and the depth profiling study reveals that both the metal nanoparticles have been embedded in the PVA matrix system. Surface morphology of such film has been studied using AFM; and the magnetic behaviour of the film studied by using MOKE shows soft ferromagnetic behaviour in this PVA/Co/Ag system.

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In this paper, we report the embedment of Cobalt (Co) nanoparticles by ion beam sputtering (IBS) in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) substrate to prepare nanocomposite film. The Co film of 5 nm was deposited on PVA by IBS technique. Formation of nanocrystalline Co with hcp phase is revealed in GIXRD pattern of the film which also indicates that there is no change in the crystalline structure of PVA even after sputtering of the metallic nanoparticles. The average particle size of Co nanoparticles as evaluated using Scherer formula is found to be about 2 nm. UVVis absorption spectrum of the film showed SPR peaks of Co metal in their nano size level embedded in the PVA matrix system. XPS study confirms the metallic nature of Co MOKE studies show that the nanocomposite film is ferromagnetic with Hc ‫||‬ of. 42.8 Oe.

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