Poly(vinylalcohol)/Lamellar Germanium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes

ABSTRACT Novel nanosized lamellar germanium phosphate, α-Ge(HPO4)2.1.84 H2O(nGeP), with interlayer spacing (d001 ) = 7.71Ǻ, was prepared. Preparations of poly(vinylalcohol) / lamellar germanium phosphate nanocomposite membranes were carried out by mixing slurry aqueous solution of (nGeP) , of different weight percentages (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 wt %) , with aqueous solution of 10% (PVA) in concentration at 45 o C . The resultant composite membranes are transparent flexible thin films and were characterized by XRD, TGA, FT-IR , scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Size particles of lamellar germanium phosphate calculated from XRD broadening method using the Scherrer , s equation , found to be 44.6 nm . TEM images of PVA/nGeP nanocomposites show that the (nGeP) in the nanometer scale , in the range 38-53 nm , well dispersed in the PVA matrix. The composite materials show to have mechanical and thermal stability properties superior to that of the original polymer, which a result of the enhancement of the thermal properties of PVA/nGeP nanocomposites