Composite films of poly( vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/boehmite with thicknesses of about 180 mu m were studied for samples with different PVA contents at different calcination temperatures. The pure boehmite sol (AlO(OH)) was prepared by a sol-gel method. The films were analyzed by thermal analysis (DSC and TGA), X-ray diffraction, average pore size analysis (BET method), functional group analysis (FT-IR),and morphology analysis (SEM). The results showed that an exothermic reaction between PVA and boehmite occurred when the calcination temperature was around 170 degrees C and cracking of this film was inhibited at various calcination temperatures. It is shown that the morphology of the composite film depends on the PVA concentration and the calcination temperature.
