Use of CeO2 Nanoparticles to Enhance UV-Shielding of Transparent Regenerated Cellulose Films

The major challenge in preparing polymer nanocomposites is to prevent the agglomeration of inorganic nanoparticles (NPs). Here, with regenerated cellulose (RC) films as supporting medium, UV-shielding and transparent nanocomposite films with hydrophobicity were fabricated by in situ synthesis of CeO2NPs. Facilitated through the interaction between organic and inorganic components revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characterization, it was found that CeO2NPs were uniformly dispersed in and immobilized by a cellulose matrix. However some agglomeration of CeO2NPs occurred at higher precursor concentrations. These results suggest that the morphology and particle size of CeO2and the corresponding performance of the resulting films are affected by the porous RC films and the concentrations of Ce(NO3)3·6H2O solutions. The optimized nanocomposite film containing 2.95 wt% CeO2NPs had more than 75% light transmittance (550 nm), high UV shielding properties, and a certain hydrophobicity.