Influence of gamma irradiation on the structure and optical dispersion parameters of functionalized PVA films doped with silver nano-particles

PVA/H2SO4/Ethanol doped with Silver nano-composite films are prepared using in-situ reduction method. The fresh samples are irradiated to Gamma rays with doses 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 kGy. The structural characterizations of as-prepared films are studied using XRD and UV absorbance techniques. The diffraction by X-ray revealed existence of Ag2O and Ag nano-particles, in the structural matrix of PVA, in the form of phase centered cubic structure. Furthermore, the fitted optical absorbance and measurements performed by HR-TEM illustrated that the embedded Ag nano-particles has a quasi-spherical shape with an average diameter similar to 25 nm. Furthermore, fitting the measured absorption coefficients revealed that the direct optical energy gap is the most probable transition. The wavelength at zero material dispersion showed an increase from 1.1578 mu m up to 1.6410 mu m against the irradiation dose. This means that nano-composites could be used to transmit optical data in low dispersion optical fibers.