Investigation on opto-electrical, structural and electro-chemical performance of PVA/ZnBi2MoO7 hybrid nanocomposites

The hybrid triplex ZnBi2MoO7 NPs were synthesized via combustion method, and various amounts of NPs, viz. 2, 4, 8 wt%, are doped into particle-stabilizing PVA matrix using solution casting technique for structural, morphological and opto-electrical studies. The effect of ZnBi2MoO7 content on structural and morphological behaviours of nanocomposite films (NCs) has been established by FTIR and SEM. The photoresponse of NCs was derived by UV-visible spectroscopy. The optical findings revealed the band gap energy (E-g) was reduced from 5.34 to 3.78 eV, whereas refractive index increased from 1.17 to 2.14 for pure PVA and PVA/8 wt% ZnBi2MoO7, respectively, with retaining its optical transparency. Electrical properties of NC films were performed using LCR meter. Current (I)-voltage (V) data displayed dc-conductivity is increased with increasing NP content, and trends of I-V indicate the dominant Ohmic behaviour at voltage < 6 V, and above that Poole-Frenkel emission is the dominant conduction mechanism. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) demonstrated the NCs have electro-chemical stability in the range -1 to 6 V; however, the specific capacitance improved to 3.92 Fg(-1) for PVA/8 wt% ZnBi2MoO7 NCs which is higher by twofold compared to pure PVA matrix. The flexible PVA/ZnBi2MoO7 films coupled with enhanced opto-electrical parameters may enable these NCs to explore their potential uses in waveguide technology and optical displacement devices.