SHI irradiated PVA/Ag nanocomposites and possibility of UV blocking

• Optical energy gap decreases with increasing irradiation fluence.
• Transmission decreases as a function of irradiation fluence.
• SRP band intensity increases with increase of irradiation fluence.
• With increasing fluence interaction between Ag nanoparticles and PVA enhances.

The polyvinyl alcohol–silver (PVA/Ag) nanocomposites were prepared by in-situ chemical reduction method. The appearance of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in the absorption spectrum of PVA/Ag nanocomposite films around 425 nm, confirmed the presence of Ag in the form of nanoparticles in host PVA matrix. In order to study the effect of swift heavy ions (SHI) irradiation on the optical and structural properties of these nanocomposites, the prepared films were irradiated to 90 MeV O6+ ion beam at two different fluence of 3 × 1010 and 1 × 1011 ions/cm2. The optical energy gap is found to be reduced from 4.57 eV (for PVA/Ag nanocomposite without irradiation) to 3.05 eV after irradiation at fluence of 1 × 1011 ions/cm2. The decline in the transmission of PVA/Ag nanocomposites in ultraviolet region, as a result of SHI irradiation, leads to their possible application in UV blocking devices. The induced structural re-arrangements, as a result of SHI irradiation, were revealed through the FTIR & Raman spectroscopy and found to be in strong association with the changes in optical behavior of these nanocomposites.