The objective of the current work is to develop the functional aspects of rGO-PVA-PVP blend using magnesium trisilicate-iron oxide (2MgO.3SiO₂-Fe₂O₃ denoted by MSO-FO) nanocomposites (NCs) for low-energy radiation shielding and optical filtering applications. MSO-FO NCs filled rGO-PVA-PVP PNCs were prepared by a casting technique. Chemical interactions, microstructural, morphological, and elemental investigations were performed using FTIR, SEM, optical microscopy, and EDX techniques. The FTIR investigations reveal the integration between the MSO-FO NCs and the functional groups of the host rGO-PVA-PVP blend. The UV-visible measurements were used to investigate the impact of MSO-FO embedding on the optical properties of the host blend. The direct/indirect E_g of the rGO-PVA-PVP blend shrinks to 4.13 eV and 3.89 eV upon MSO-FO embedding compared to 5.08 eV and 4.91 eV, indicating the formation of energy level states between the HOMO and LUMO of the host medium. The radiation shielding performance for all samples was investigated. At low photon energy (0.015 MeV), the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) of the rGO-PVA-PVP blend rises to 4.59765 cm⁻¹ (filled PNC) compared to 1.364 cm⁻¹. The influence of the MSO-FO content on the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC) of the rGO-PVA-PVP blend is classified into three categories. Enhancement of the MAC property of the rGO-PVA-PVP blend through MSO-FO NCs embedding suggests its shielding application in low photon energies. At 0.015 MeV, the half-value layer (HVL) of the host blend decreases to 0.15076 cm due to MSO-FO NCs embedding compared to 0.50817 cm. The tenth-value layer (TVL) drops to 0.50082 cm compared to 1.68811 cm for the plain host. The mean free path (MFP) declines to 0.218 cm upon MSO-FO embedding compared to 0.733 cm (plain host). The MSO-FO filled rGO-PVA-PVP PNCs achieve 99% of radiation protection efficiency (RPE) compared to 77% for the host blend, based on Phy-X/PSD simulations. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on MSO-FO nanocomposite-filled rGO-PVA-PVP polymer blend, introducing a novel multifunctional material system with simultaneously engineered optical and radiation shielding properties. The present results suggest these PNCs as promising optical functional materials with potential for low-energy radiation shielding and optical filtering applications, pending further experimental validation.

Title

Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance

Publisher

Springer

Publisher Country

United Kingdom

Indexing

Thomson Reuters

Impact Factor

2.0

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

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Year

2026

Pages

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