Characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/ZnO nanocomposites prepared by a one-pot method

A one-pot method was used to prepare poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/ZnO quantum dots (QDs) nanocomposites. In this method, separation and purification of ZnO QDs is not required. The optical properties of the ZnO QDs and PVA/ZnO QDs nanocomposites were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry and photoluminescence (PL). X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and FT-IR spectrophotometry were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the nanocomposites. TEM imaging confirmed that QDs of around 4 nm diameter were uniformly dispersed in the PVA matrix. The PL spectra of the PVA/ZnO QDs nanocomposites showed a blue shift as compared with the ZnO QDs solution, while the thermal stability of the PVA was sharply enhanced after the addition of the ZnO QDs. The results confirmed that PVA/ZnO QDs nanocomposites with strong fluorescence emission can be easily prepared by the one-pot method, with good potential for applications in the fields of photoelectricity and display. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.