Issue 10, 2023

Low birefringence and low dispersion aliphatic thermosets with a high and tunable refractive index

Abstract

We herein present a new class of high refractive index polymers prepared through the reaction of bis(2,3-epithiopropyl)sulfide, a series of poly(alkyl polysulfide)s, and elemental sulfur. The addition of an amine catalyst leads to rapid polymerization, resulting in a series of thermosets with high transmittance over the entire visible range. The refractive index of the thermosets can be fine-tuned over the range of 1.700–1.745 (λ = 589 nm) by varying the feed ratios of elemental sulfur and the polysulfide polymers. A wide range of properties, including the birefringence (Δn), optical dispersion, temperature coefficient of refractive index (dn/dT), transmittance, and glass transition temperature (Tg), of the thermosets are presented. The polymers exhibited a very low birefringence (Δn < 0.002), which is attributed to the absence of aromatic functional groups, exceptionally low optical dispersion (VD > 30), Tg > 60 °C, and dn/dT similar to that of PMMA.

Graphical abstract: Low birefringence and low dispersion aliphatic thermosets with a high and tunable refractive index

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Okt 2022
Accepted
03 Feb 2023
First published
06 Feb 2023

Polym. Chem., 2023,14, 1117-1123

Low birefringence and low dispersion aliphatic thermosets with a high and tunable refractive index

Y. Jeon, J. Choi, D. Seo, S. H. Jung and J. Lim, Polym. Chem., 2023, 14, 1117 DOI: 10.1039/D2PY01327D

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