Optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles dispersed in PMMA/PVDF blend

Blend films based on PMMA/PVDF(80/20 wt %) undoped and doped with different concentration of ZnO nanoparticles ranging from (5-20) wt % were prepared by casting technique. Characteristics of the nanocomposites were examined using XRD and UV-Vis optical spectroscope in the wavelength range (200-800) nm. Complexation has been confirmed using XRD. The refractive index n and extinction coefficient k were observed to increase with increasing concentration of ZnO nanoparticles. Analysis of the absorption coefficient data reveal that the rule of direct transition predominates. It has been found that the optical energy gap decreases with increasing ZnO content, while the width of the tails in the gap have an opposite behavior. Other optical parameters, oscillator energy, dispersion energy, the loss factor, the volume, the surface energy loss functions and the optical conductivity as a function of ZnO content are also studied and discussed. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.