Polyvinyl alcohol thin film reinforced by green synthesized zirconia nanoparticles

The focus of this work is to prepare polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thin film reinforced by green synthesized zirconia nanoparticles. In order to do so, firstly, zirconia nanoparticles were synthesized by the rosemary extract-assisted sol-gel process as both template and stabilizing agents. The results showed that the as-obtained sample with zirconium salt to rosemary extract ratio of 1:4 had a semi-spherical morphology with the mean particle size of 12-17 nm. This nanoparticle was added as reinforcement with different ratios to the polyvinyl alcohol matrix. The mechanical property of the as-prepared nanocomposites revealed that the elastic modulus of 1 wt% ZrO2-PVA sample was about 5.5 times higher than pure PVA thin film.