Study of Mechanical, Optical, and Electrical Behaviors of Calcium Alginate/Poly(vinyl alcohol)–Vanadium Pentoxide Bionanocomposite Films

Thin films of calcium alginate (CaAlg)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and CaAlg/PVA-vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) bionanocomposites were synthesized by solution casting approach followed by impregnation of vanadium pentoxide and investigated for their structural, mechanical, optical, and electrical properties for possible use as cathode material in Li-ion batteries. The interaction of V2O5 nanoparticles with CaAlg/PVA film was investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy which suggested for strong interactions between V2O5 nanoparticles and CaAlg/PVA matrix film thus confirming successful impregnation of V2O5 into the matrix film. Crystalline nature of prepared samples was probed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique that indicated improvements in crystalline nature of the material. For evaluation of particle size and morphology, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was also used. The roughness of the surfaces of bionanocomposite films was also determined by the atomic force microscopy (AFM) which showed an increase in morphological parameters upon impregnation of vanadium pentoxide nanoparticles into the polymer matrix. The thermal properties like glass transition temperature, crystalline point and crystalline melting point were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. The results of tensile strength and microhardness measurements depicted that the prepared bionanocomposite films possessed good mechanical strength than the native polymer matrix. Significant enhancement in electrical conductivities was observed upon insertion of V2O5 into the native blend film.