Impact of Graphene Oxide and Zinc Oxide Nanofillers on Polyvinyl Alcohol Polymer Matrix

This study offers a comparative analysis and analogy of polymer nanocomposites that utilize the well-established polymer matrix polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), enhanced with graphene oxide (GO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as nano-fillers. The polymer nanocomposite films were fabricated using a solution casting technique and were subsequently characterized through infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, assessments of mechanical properties, thermal characterization and optical microscopy. The addition of GO and ZnO nanoparticles led to significant changes in the structural, thermal, mechanical and optical properties of the PVA polymer. Specifically, the thermal stability of the composite films showed improvement compared to pure PVA, although the mechanical analysis revealed a significant increase in tensile strength.