LAUSR

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite films reinforced with bamboo charcoal nanoparticles were successfully fabricated via solution casting and their nanomechanical properties in terms of material phases were determined by a peak force quantitative nanomechanical tapping mode (PFQNM). Our experimental results revealed that the elastic modulus of PVA semicrystalline phase in stack-bundle form was 24± 4.2 GPa with the semicrystalline phase width being 20-76 nm, as opposed to 11.4± 3.1 GPa and 18-65 nm for corresponding PVA amorphous phase accordingly. The incorporation of bamboo charcoal (BC) nanoparticles enhanced the elastic moduli of both crystalline and amorphous phases of PVA by ~51% and ~100%, respectively. Moreover, the phase width was decreased to be in range of 5-53 nm for crystalline phase and 4-35 nm for amorphous phase.