Evaluation of mechanical, optical and thermal properties of PVA nanocomposites embedded with Fe₂O₃ nanofillers and the investigation of their thermal decomposition characteristics under non-isothermal heating condition

Magnetic Fe₂O₃ nanopowder was synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques. The PVA/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting method to investigate the effect of nanofillers on their physicochemical properties. The analytical tools such as FTIR, UV–visible spectra and XRD were used to analyze the structure of Fe₂O₃ nanopowder and PVA/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites. The uniform distribution of the Fe₂O₃ nanofillers on the PVA matrix was inspected using SEM. The particle size of the crystalline Fe₂O₃ nanofillers was observed to be less than 30 nm from the TEM micrographs. The optical characteristics of the prepared samples were investigated by analyzing their UV–visible spectra. The bandgap of PVA nanocomposites was lower than for pure PVA due to the dispersed Fe₂O₃ nanofillers in the PVA matrix. The thermal properties of pristine PVA and PVA/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites were investigated by TGA. The PVA/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite systems exhibited the improved thermal stability. The thermal degradation mechanism of PVA/Fe₂O₃ nanocomposite system was inspected in depth at five different heating rates under non-isothermal conditions. The electrical and mechanical properties of PVA were enhanced remarkably while increasing the % weight loading of nanopowder.