Processing polymer film nanocomposites of polyvinyl chloride – Polyvinylpyrrolidone and MoO3 for optoelectronic applications

Polymer blends nanocomposites films have come to the forefront of optoelectronics research because of their superior physicochemical properties as well as their ease and low-cost of fabrications. In this paper, the development and characterization of novel molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) nanoparticle-modified polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/ polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymer films were described via investigating the structure of the polymer blend matrix as well as the structural changes due to dispersion of MoO3 nanoparticles. The blend films have the potential to be a highly nonlinear optical material. The strength of complexity between the polymer and nano-MoO3 and the effect of the MoO3 addition on the optoelectronic characteristics of the nanocomposite films are investigated. The absorption process is dominated by direct and indirect allowed optical transitions. Optical energy gap analysis shows an increase in the direct/indirect energy gaps when MoO3 content was raised up to 0.6 wt%. Moreover, by alternating the MoO3 content, we were able to tune the dispersion energy, refractive index, and oscillator strength of the nanocomposite films. The results demonstrate an improvement of nonlinear optical response in the films produced from nanocomposites. The experimental results presented in this work indicate that tuning the content of MoO3 nanoparticles is a critical part in fabricating a reliable composites material for optoelectronic applications.