Influence of zinc oxide nanoparticles on structural and electrical properties of polyvinyl alcohol films

This study has been conducted with the objective of investigating the effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles on the structural and electrical properties of polyvinyl alcohol films. The fabricated nanocomposites were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–visible (vis) spectra, X-ray diffraction and SEM techniques. UV–vis spectra showed that the addition of ZnO nanoparticles did not affect the absorbance in the visible region of nanocomposites. The SEM image showed that ZnO nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed throughout the entire film’s polymeric matrix. The dielectric properties were found to be strongly dependent on frequency and nanofiller content. AC conductivity σac of polyvinyl alcohol/ZnO nanocomposites increased with increasing frequency. The dissipation factor tan δ also increased with nanoparticle addition and decreased with frequency. At low nanofiller concentrations, nanocomposites exhibited low dielectric values at higher frequency, thus behaving like a lossless material, making them suitable for utilisation in microwave applications.