Monomer-Level Strategy for High Refractive Index without Visible-Light Absorption: Vinylthiophene Incorporation into Group 14 scaffolds

Abstract

We present a monomer-level design strategy for high-refractiveindex polymers that overcomes the trade-off between refractive index and visible-light transparency. Densely incorporating highly polarizable vinylthiophene units around Group 14 element centers results in refractive indices up to 1.69, maintains minimal visiblelight absorption, and enables their application as index-enhancing additives for polymers.