Photochromism of peroxotungstic acid/PVP nanocomposite obtained by sol-gel method

Peroxotungstic acid (PTA)/PVP composite film was prepared via sol-gel method. TEM revealed that the composite films consist of peroxotungstic acid nano-grains embedded in amorphous PVP matrix. The samples were observed to exhibit reversible photochromic effect when irradiated with solar light. The iodometric titration and FT-IR spectra indicated the presence of peroxo groups (W-O-O-W) incorporated into PTA structure. EPR measurement revealed the presence of unpaired paramagnetic electrons in PTA/PVP nanocomposite gel. The UV-Vis-Nir transmittance spectra and EPR spectroscopy of sample indicate that the photochromic behaviour is due to the photo-excitation of the unpaired electrons at W-O octahedral sites of peroxotungstic acid.