Silver nanoparticles incorporated PVC films: Evaluation of structural, thermal, dielectric and catalytic properties

Abstract

In this work, silver nanoparticle - polyvinylchloride (SNC-PVC) composites were synthesized by loading 2.5% to 10.0% silver ions to PVC using simple solution casting technique. Material properties including dielectric, thermal stability were discussed in some detail. Incorporation of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) in the PVC matrix was confirmed by UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM). FE-SEM confirms the shape of the SNPs are roughly spherical with average size of the SNPs in the range of 60 - 80 nm. The thermal degradation studies were analysed via sensitive graphical Broido's method using Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The resulting SNC-PVC films, especially with 10% silver loading showed improved catalytic performance during the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP) in the presence of aqueous sodium borohydride with apparent rate constant 1.956 × 10-3 sec-1 at ambient temperature.