Polymeric Nanocomposites of Polyvinyl Alcohol Embedded with ZnO/CuO/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Optical and Radiation Shielding Investigations

The optical and radiation shielding of PVA have been enhanced through embedding with ZnO/CuO/SWCNT (ZCS) nanocomposites. ZCS polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) were prepared with the solution casting method. Scanning electron, optical microscopy and FT-IR procedures were performed to examine the surfaces' morphology and structures' modifications. UV-visible measurements were carried out to investigate the linear/nonlinear optical properties. The optical investigations show significant alterations in the optical parameters of PVA due to ZCS embedding. The UV-visible analysis shows that the optical parameters, including the transmittance, energy bandgap, refractive index, dielectric constants and optical conductivity of PVA, are tuned through ZCS embedding. The direct and indirect bandgap of PVA shrank from 5.42 eV and 4.99 eV (neat PVA) to 3.20 eV and 2.26 eV (10 wt.% ZCS PNCs). The nonlinear optical (NLO) constants (first order susceptibility (χ⁽¹⁾), third susceptibility (χ⁽³⁾) and refractive index (n₂)) of PVA were improved. Phy-X/PSD software was used to investigate the radiation shielding parameters of all samples. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), mean free path (MFP), half value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL) and effective atomic number (Z_eff) of PVA were enhanced through ZCS embedding. It is found that the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the neat PVA increased from 1.14 cm²/g to 7.96 cm²/g at 0.015 MeV. The HVL of PVA decreased from 30.2 cm to 20.6 cm, the TVL decreased from 100.3 cm to 68.5 cm and the MFP decreased from 43.6 cm to 29.8 cm upon embedding 10 wt.% of ZCS NCs at 15 MeV. The samples' exposure buildup factor (EBF) and energy absorption buildup factor (EABF) in the photon energy range from 0.015 MeV to 15 MeV at 0.5 to 40 MFP values. This study proves that ZCS PNCs are advantageous for applications in optical and radiation shielding fields.