Vanadium Pentoxide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites Reinforce the Optical and Radiation Protection Performance of PVA

In this research, vanadium pentoxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (V2O5/rGO NCs) were used to enhance the PVA’s optical and radiation protection properties. Undoped and PVA doped with V2O5/rGO NCs were successfully synthesized using a simple casting procedure. FT-IR spectrophotometry and optical microscopy techniques were used to explore the structure and morphology of the prepared films. UV-visible measurements were performed to consider the optical properties. The optical investigations show that PVA’s optical bandgap declined from 5.38 eV to 2.52 eV due to V2O5/rGO NCs incorporation. The refractive index, dielectric constants and optical conductivity for PVA were significantly enhanced through V2O5/rGO NCs doping. The samples’ radiation protection performance was computed by Phy-X/PSD software. The radiation shielding investigations approve significant improvements in PVA’s linear and mass attenuation coefficients (LAC and MAC), half- and tenth-value layers (HVL and TVL), mean free path (MFP) and effective atomic number with V2O5/rGO NCs incorporation. The fast neutron removal cross-section for PVA rose upon increasing V2O5/rGO NCs content. Overall, these findings indicate the potential role of PVA doped with V2O5/rGO NCs as a highly effective material for applications in optical devices and radiation shielding issues.