The extraordinary effectiveness of duple Lanthanides (La and Ce) elements on the features of PVA nanocomposite films and for potential applications

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films fabricated with dual ions of cerium and lanthanum in the polymer structure nanocomposites [LCPn = (La:Ce:PVA)n]; n = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, 4 were prepared using the casting method. The nanostructure and structural parameters of the synthesized composites were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The incorporation of lanthanide ions into the polymer structure was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) technique. The interaction between polymer PVA and lanthanides enhanced the optical conductivity and reduced the direct and indirect optical gap values. It also reduced the refractive index values in the ultraviolet region and increased them in the visible region according to the La:Ce ions ratio. The critical concentration of lanthanide ions (La:Ce) added to PVA polymer was 0.25 for the sample named LCP1 and it qualifies for photonic semiconductor applications.