Adjustment of structural and optical features of nanocomposite based on polyvinyl butyral film with antimony oxide for UV shielding and optoelectronics

In this paper, transparent polyvinyl butyral/antimony oxide (PVB/Sb 2 O 3 ) nanocomposites with good UV shielding effectiveness are prepared. Solution casting was used to produce PVB/Sb 2 O 3 nanocomposites with different Sb 2 O 3 percentages. XRD and FTIR confirmed the interaction between PVB and Sb 2 O 3 . SEM and EDS mapping revealed that Sb 2 O 3 nanoparticles with an irregular polygonal structure have a Sb/O ratio of ∼0.44. The integration of Sb 2 O 3 resulted in a measurable alteration in PVB’s linear and nonlinear optical characteristics. For example, the reduction in transmittance of PVB was detected upon increasing the nanofiller content. Increasing the Sb 2 O 3 ratio resulted in a reduction of the energy band gap of PVB, attributed to changes in localized energy states and defect levels within the host PVB’s band gap. Increasing the amount of Sb 2 O 3 causes a rise in the refractive index, dispersion energy, static refractive index, and dielectric constant of nanocomposites. The results show that Sb 2 O 3 can alter the optical properties of PVB, enabling it to be utilized in various applications, including UV protection, optical cables, anti-reflective films, and optoelectronic devices.