Optical and thermogravimetric analysis of Pb₃O₄/PVC nanocomposites

Pb₃O₄ nanoparticles were embedded in a Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) polymer matrix with different filler ratios 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 wt%. The nanocomposite films are prepared at room temperature via solution-casting technique. XRD analysis showed that pure PVC film is partially crystalline and Pb₃O₄ nanoparticles have a tetragonal crystal structure. TEM revealed nearly spherical Pb₃O₄ nanoparticles with average size around 24.3 nm which is very close to that obtained from XRD. Scanning electron microscopy micrographs indicated a PVC film with uniform surface morphology and Pb₃O₄ nanoparticles are well dispersed on the PVC surface. The optical band gap, E_opt, values calculated from optical absorption spectra decreased from 5.05 to 4.34 eV with increasing Pb₃O₄ wt%. Also, both Fermi energy, E_F, and Urbach energy, ∆E, increased with increasing Pb₃O₄ filler content. The addition of Pb₃O₄ nanoparticles increases the solar material protection factor (SMPF) from 99.89 to 99.99%. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that Pb₃O₄/PVC nanocomposites have high thermal stability rather than pure PVC film.