Investigation of optical, structural, and radiation shielding properties of novel polyvinyl alcohol and cesium dichromate Cs2Cr2O7 nanocomposite films

In the current study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films were doped with different concentrations of Caesium dichromate (Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 ) nanoparticles (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8%). The PVA-Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 films were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometry. XRD analysis showed that increasing Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 significantly changed the crystalline structure of the PVA films. FT-IR spectroscopy confirmed the interaction between PVA and Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 nanoparticles, which showed the appearance of Cr–O–Cr and Cr=O starching bonds at higher concentrations of Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 in the PVA matrix. UV–Vis analysis revealed a remarkable increase in optical absorbance and redshift in the edge of the absorption of the PVA matrix to the visible region with increasing Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 concentration. The optical indirect and direct bandgap energies were decreased to about 2.03 eV and 2.69 eV for the PVA film doped with 8% Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 , respectively. Radiation shield properties were also studied using Phy-X/PSD software. The mass attenuation coefficient (G mac ) was calculated in the energy range of 0.015–15 MeV for gamma rays. The results showed that PCCO4 exhibited the highest mass attenuation coefficient of 0.295 cm 2 /g at 0.1 MeV, about 42% higher than that of PCCO0. The half value (G hvl ) decreased from 2.6 cm for PCCO0 to 1.5 cm for PCCO4, indicating increased radiation shielding effectiveness and higher Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 concentration. Incorporating Cs 2 Cr 2 O 7 nanoparticles into PVA films significantly improves their optical and radiation shielding properties, making them promising materials for various applications, including protective coatings and photoelectronic devices.