Issue 15, 2008

Refractive index engineering of transparent ZrO2–polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites

Abstract

Transparent ZrO2–polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposites with high refractive index were prepared by dispersing ZrO2nanoparticles in a PDMS matrix via ligand molecule engineering. The ligand molecule consists of a diamine head group that adsorbs strongly onto the ZrO2nanoparticles, and a siloxane tail group with a double-tailed structure that can be easily stretched within the PDMS matrix and yields a greater steric hindrance compared to single-tailed structure. The transmission electron micrograph shows that the designed Si-based ligand molecule has a role to play in keeping ZrO2nanoparticles fully-dispersed even after the ZrO2nanoparticles were transferred into the PDMS matrix. UV-vis spectra indicate that ZrO2–PDMS nanocomposite had a high transparency of 93.3% in the whole visible range. The refractive index of the ZrO2–PDMS nanocomposite could be varied from 1.39 to 1.65 simply by increasing the ZrO2 content from 0 to 20.8% v/v.

Graphical abstract: Refractive index engineering of transparent ZrO2–polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Oct 2007
Accepted
11 Jan 2008
First published
22 Feb 2008

J. Mater. Chem., 2008,18, 1751-1755

Refractive index engineering of transparent ZrO2–polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites

S. Lee, H. Shin, S. Yoon, D. K. Yi, J. Choi and U. Paik, J. Mater. Chem., 2008, 18, 1751 DOI: 10.1039/B715338D

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