Synthesis and Characterization of PVA-Assisted Metal Oxide Nanomaterials: Surface Area, Porosity, and Electrochemical Property Improvement

The poly(vinyl alcohol)-assisted sol-gel-self-propagation route has been used for the synthesis of porous binary metal oxide nanocomposites (BMONCs) and ternary metal oxide nanocomposites (TMONCs). The effects of synthesis techniques, precursor's type, amount of PVA loading, and precursor's percentage were studied. The optical, chemical bonding, crystallinity, morphological, textural, and electrochemical properties of the synthesized materials were characterized by UV-vis-DRS/UV-vis, FT-IR, XRD, SEM/EDX and TEM/HRTEM/SAED, BET, and CV/EIS techniques, respectively. The porous nature of the materials was confirmed by SEM, BET, and SAED analytical techniques. Using XRD and TEM analysis, the approximate particle size of the materials was confirmed to be in the nanometer range (similar to 7-70 nm). The EDX and HRTEM analysis was confirming the presence of predictable composition and actuality of the composites, respectively. Moving from bare ZnO to ternary nanocomposites, the great morphological, surface area, and electrochemical property enhancement was confirmed. The charge transfer capability order was obtained to be ZnO/Fe2O3/Mn2O3 > ZnO/Fe2O3 > ZnO/Mn2O3 > ZnO. The respective approximate electron transfer resistance value is 7, 25, 61, and 65 Omega. Therefore, this work can improve the toxicity towards solvent used, surface area to volume ratio, and aggregation/agglomeration problem and also enhance the charge transfer capability due to the heterojunction.