Study on effects of shockwave treatment on PVA films in view of electrical property changes

Abstract

The shock wave impact effects have been studied on PVA (Poly Vinyl Alcohol), thin films in view of morphological and electrical property changes. The PVA films of thickness around 0.25 mm are subjected to shock waves impact of Mach number around 1.7 to 1.8. The samples are subjected to 0, 25, 50, 100 and 150 numbers of shocks, in a time interval of around 15 s between the shocks. The shock waves are generated with an in-house developed shock tube capable of producing shock waves of Mach number up to 2. The films are further characterized with FTIR, UV–visible spectral analysis for chemical and physical changes and the EDAX, SEM image analysis further confirmed the effects. The trend in the I-V characteristics and the impedance data obtained clearly shows the significant increase in the conductivity of PVA films. Thus, shock wave impact method proves to be another method of treatment of materials and the results obtained promises about the possible electrical applications of PVA films.

Keywords

• shock waves
• poly vinyl alcohol
• conductivity in PVA
• shock treated PVA