ADVANCES IN COMPOSITE MATERIALS - ECODESIGN AND ANALYSIS
SEM
On higher magnification (10,000 X) viewing of morphology of pristine PVA SP4 and SP5 type of nanocomposite films in Figure 11 (a) , (b) and (c) respectively, it was found that the morphology of polymer nanocomposite films becomes much smooth than pure PVA.
The granules shape of PVA indicates some crystalline behavior occurring in pure polymer. The incorporation of red mud seems to destroy the orientation of semicrystalline polymer and to convert the polymer morphology approaching to amorphous state. [Bhat & Banthia, 2007] The SP5 showed much smooth morphology that is different to crystallites of PVA observation. This result is consistent with the wide-angle powder XRD patterns as described previously.