Improving the Physical Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)-Melanin Doping

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is an artificial polymer that used in many medical applications but it has a few disadvantages that can overcome by the addition of certain chemical compounds. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of melanin to improve the properties of biopolymer PVA. Doping may reinforce the PVA electrical, optical and mechanical properties. In the present work, dielectric relaxation and spectrophotometric techniques were used to characterize the biopolymer PVA doped melanin of different concentration. Increase melanin concentration cause reduction of both dielectric constant and relaxation times accompanied with increased in conductivity. Moreover, a small shift in Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of PVA with increasing the melanin concentration may be related to the increase OH. In conclusion melanin doping could improve the medical and the electronic industries applications of PVA.