Influence of Reaction pH towards the Physicochemical Characteristics of Phosphorylated Polyvinyl Alcohol-Aluminum Phosphate Nanocomposite

Abstract

The present study deals with the formation of a phosphorylated polyvinyl alcohol (PPVA)-Aluminum Phosphate (AlPO4) nanocomposite, changing the pH solution under the two-step process involving the phosphorylation of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) followed by the conjugation with AlPO4. The composite was formed by varying the pH of the solution in the range of 7–12 and the reflected changes in the product’s morphology, crystallinity, surface nature, thermal stability, etc. were recorded using FESEM, XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis spectroscopy, TGA, etc. From the analysis, it was found that the particles formed with two different sizes of the probed pH, and at pH 10 they were homogeneously distributed. In addition, the morphology of the PPVA-AlPO4 composite also seems to be altered with respect to the pH and this is due to the differences in the amount of H+ and OH− anions. Thus, from the overall analysis, it can be indicated that pH 10 needs to be maintained for the formation of a spherical shape and uniformly distributed PPVA-AlPO4 nanocomposite.