THERMAL BEHAVIOR OF POLY (VINYL PYRROLIDONE) / ZnO NANOCOMPOSITE FILMS

Recently, nanocomposites consist of a polymer matrix reinforced with particles (nanoparticles) having at least one dimension in the nanometer range (1–100 nm). Nanocomposites exhibit much improved properties compared with polymers due to the high aspect ratio and high surface area of nanoparticles. In this work,the nanocomposite films of Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone)/nano-Zinc oxidewere prepared by homogeneously dispersed ZnO nanoparticles in percent of ZnO up to 6wt% based materials, via a solution casting technique. The prepared Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone)/ ZnOnanocomposite films in different weight percentage of ZnO were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of thermal of thermal analysis showed that addition of ZnOnanoparticles have considerable effects on the thermal stability of the nanocomposite films. Also, results indicate that the glass transition temperature and melting temperature of the PVP films increased when the amount of ZnO in the film is increased. The incorporation of ZnO into the polymer matrix was found to enhance thermal stability because the dispersed ZnO acts as an insulator for heat transfer and a barrier for mass transfer to the volatile products generated during thermal decomposition, and the of ZnO also serves to shield the polymer from the action of oxygen, dramatically increasing its thermal stability under oxidative conditions.