The influences of average degree of polymerization (Dp) and terminal group on thermal and optical properties of high refractive indexed transparent polymers were investigated. In this study, 9,9‐bis[4–(2‐hydroxyethoxy) phenyl] fluorene (BPEF) homo polymer was selected because it has been used as a representative monomer in high refractive index polymers as well as its unique property. BPEF has stable amorphous phase and reacts like a polymer. Its unique reaction allows continuous investigation from monomer to polymer. For hydroxyl‐terminated polymer, the refractive index (nd) decreased with increasing Dp. On the other hand, for a phenolic‐terminated group, nd increased with increasing Dp, and both converged to same value in high Dp region. As for glass transition temperatures (Tg), both terminal group series were increased as Dp increased. Though Tg of hydroxyl‐terminated polymer was higher than that of phenolic‐terminated polymer in the low Dp region, both converged to the same value and the inverse number of Tg had linear correlation against the weight percentage of carbonyl groups (CO), which was calculated by Dp. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45042.

The influences of the average degree of polymerization (Dp), which is derived from Mn and terminal end group, on optical and thermal properties of various refractive indexed transparent polymers were investigated. In this study, we selected the alicyclic compound, Dinorbornane dimethanol (DNDM) homo polymer, because it has been used as a representative monomer in low refractive index polymers for its unique properties. DNDM monomer has a stable amorphous phase and reacts like a polymer. Its unique reaction allows continuous investigation from monomer to polymer. For hydroxy end group and phenolic end group polymers, the refractive index (nd) decreased with increasing Dp, and both converged to same value in the high Dpregion. However, the Abbe number (νd) of a hydroxy end group polymer is not dependent on Dp, and the νd of a phenolic end group polymer is greatly dependent on Dp. As for glass transition temperatures (Tg), both end group series were increased as Dpincreased, and both converged to the same value.

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