Collection of scientific works Nanosystems, nanomaterials, nanotechnologies
Year 2026 Volume 24, Issue 1
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Ameen Alwan MOHAIMEED1,2 and Maher Hassan RASHEED3

1College of Sciences, Medical Physics Department, Al-Mustaqbal University, 51001 Babil, Iraq
2Directorate of Education Babylon, Ministry of Education, Homs, Iraq
3College of Basic Education, Department of Science, University of Babylon, Hilla, Iraq

The Effect of Increasing ZnO Nanomaterial in PVA–ZnO Nanocomposites and Investigating Some of Their Properties for Utilization as Humidity Sensor

249–265 (2026)

PACS numbers: 07.07.Vx, 68.37.Hk, 68.37.Vj, 68.55.J-, 72.80.Tm, 78.20.Ci, 78.67.Sc

Received 5 August, 2024

This research is aimed to prepare PVA with ratios of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 wt.% by the casting method and with a thickness of 270±5 μm. The morphological characteristics are examined via FE–SEM and FT–IR, and the results show that the composites have a homogeneous and granular structure and that ZnO is well distributed within the polymer. The reason for the increased movement of charges is the action of a grid of nanomaterials inserted into the polymer. FT–IR analysis reveals absorption peaks at 3251.3 cm−1 and 2812 cm−1 due to the O–H bond, which indicates the presence of polyvinyl alcohol. The absorbance of the prepared composites increases with increasing nanomaterials' concentration, reaching 93% at 6 wt.%. In addition, the energy gap decreases with increasing nanomaterial concentration to 2.87–2.73 eV, and all optical parameters α, n, k, εr, and εi increase with increasing nanomaterials' concentration. For all the samples, the dielectric constant decreases as the frequency increases and increases with increasing nanomaterials' concentration within the polymer. A decrease in the effect of charge polarization is the main factor of the dielectric loss of the PVA–ZnO nanocomposite; at the same time, increasing the concentration of nanomaterials leads to an increase in the dielectric loss. An increase in the frequency of the electric field and an increase in the concentration of nanomaterials increase the electrical conductivity. The humidity sensor shows almost no humidity hysteresis, and its resistance decreases with increasing humidity and zinc-oxide concentration. This makes these films useful for electronic applications and light filters, and they can be also used as ultraviolet detectors and humidity sensors.

KEY WORDS: PVA–ZnO nanocomposites, a.c. electrical properties, morphological properties, zinc oxide, humidity sensor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15407/nnn.24.01.0249

Citation:
Ameen Alwan Mohaimeed and Maher Hassan Rasheed, The Effect of Increasing ZnO Nanomaterial in PVA–ZnO Nanocomposites and Investigating Some of Their Properties for Utilization as Humidity Sensor, Nanosistemi, Nanomateriali, Nanotehnologii, 24, No. 1: 249–265 (2026); https://doi.org/10.15407/nnn.24.01.0249

Acknowledgments:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical support provided by Al-Mustaqbal University, University of Babylon, and the Applied Sciences Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.

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