Preparation and Characterization of Novel Polyvinyl Alcohol Hybrid Composites Based on Barium Titanate and Magnetite Nanoparticles

Abstract

Novel nanocomposites comprised polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a host matrix and different concentration of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles and barium titanate (BaTiO3) nanoparticles before and after treatment with ionic liquid (IL) as dopant were synthesized by casting method. Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) was used to determine the particle size of the particles under investigation. The morphology of the samples was done by Scan Electron Microscope (SEM) shows an improvement of the distribution of BaTiO3 inside PVA matrix after ionic liquid treatment. X-ray Diffraction Spectra (XRD) has been hired for the characterization of the composites under investigation. XRD revealed a decrease in degree of crystallinity by increasing BaTiO3 concentrations (5-20) % in PVA / 10 wt% Fe3O4 before the treatment whereas a notable increase is found by increasing IL treated BaTiO3. Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of PVA through its respective functional groups is noticed by addition of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and BaTiO3 nanoparticles before and after modification as well. A considerable change in characteristic peaks in the FTIR spectra was detected. The mechanical parameters; tensile strength (σR), elongation (εR) and hardness (Hv) were also investigated. Mechanical properties investigations refer that 10 (Fe3O4 / IL treated BaTiO3) wt% is the optimum concentration. Moreover, linear hardness increases with the increase of the Fe3O4 content, as well as after modification BaTiO3 with the ionic liquid.