Synthesis and tailoring the morphological, structural and optical characteristics of SiO₂–CO₂O₃ nanomaterials doped PVA–PEG for optoelectronic and food packing applications

Due to their strong antibacterial activity and nanometric size, nanoparticles have become a feasible option for a range of medical treatments. The purpose of the research is to prepare a nanocomposite of four materials, and to study the effect of the content of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) / cobalt oxide (CO₂O₃) NPs on the PVA–PEG mixture. In this paper, samples of polymer nanocomposite were created by solution casting. The test specimens were made of an organic host matrix consisting of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) polymer mixture. Different concentrations of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and cobalt oxide (CO₂O₃) were introduced to specimens at different weight percentages (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%). The present research tested the optical, structural, morphological, and antibacterial characteristics of (PVA–PEG-SiO₂–CO₂O₃) NCs. The blended homogenous nanoparticle distribution, which forms a unified network across the polymer matrix, is shown in the optical microscope photos. The outcomes of field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) investigations show that the surface morphology is sufficiently homogenous and distributed. The blend consisting of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and (polyethylene glycol) (PEG) was discovered to be amorphous by X-ray diffraction (XRD) investigation. Furthermore, peaks of other nanomaterials appeared at all nanocomposites sample concentrations, and we compared them with the reference code PDF. For both allowed and forbidden transitions, the energy gap shrinks from (4.23 to 3.22) eV and (3.9 to 2.59) eV, respectively. The outcomes indicate an upward trend between the measured absorbance values, absorption coefficient (α), refractive index (n), real and imaginary dielectric constants, and optical conductivity (σ_op) with riesing the concentrations of (SiO₂–CO₂O₃) nanoparticles, especially in the UV and visible areas. It appeared clearly at the highest amount of nanoparticles at a certain wavelength (390 nm), and the results indicated that they could be attractive materials for nano-oriented optoelectronic devices. The antibacterial properties of the (PVA–PEG-SiO₂–CO₂O₃) nanocomposites were finally studied. As the ratio of SiO₂–CO₂O₃ nanoparticles to PVA-PEG grew, so did the antibacterial activity of S. aureus and E. coli, yielding inhibition region values of (20 and 21) mm, respectively. Accordingly, this study's results show how useful and viable nanocomposites are for use in the optical electronics, and medical industries.