Development of optically transparent ZnS/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) nanocomposite films with high refractive indices and high Abbe numbers

Abstract

A series of optically transparent ZnS-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) nanocomposite films with high refractive indices and high Abbe numbers have been prepared. Mercaptoethanol (ME) capped ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) were introduced into the PVP polymer matrix via simple blending with high nanophase contents. ME-ZnS NPs of around 3 nm were prepared from zinc acetate and thiourea precursors in N,N-dimethylformamide using ME as a capping agent. Transparent nanocomposite films with high refractive indices and high Abbe numbers can be easily prepared by a conventional film casting method. TGA results indicated that the ZnS/ PVP nanocomposite films exhibit good thermal stability and the measured contents of ZnS NPs in the films agree well with the theoretical values. The refractive indices and the Abbe numbers of the ZnS/PVP nanocomposite films range from 1.5061 to 1.7523 and 55.6 to 20.4 with the content of ME-ZnS NPs varied between 0 and 80 wt %, respectively.

Nanofiller materials for transparent polymer composites: Influences on the properties and on the transparency—A review

“…The main purpose behind using zinc sulfide (ZnS) particles is also luminescent properties 71,72 or high RI materials. [73][74][75] Zhang et al 73 increased the RI of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) linearly from 1.5061 to 1.7523 with an increasing particle content up to 80 wt% while reducing the Abbe number. The transparency of thin films (thickness: 25 mm) above 500 nm was maintained.…”

“…Young modulus [55] Tensile strength [55] Impact strength [56] Tensile strength [54] Young modulus [54] UV absorption [54] Thermal stability [42] Glass temperature [55] AlO 2 and Al 2 O 3 Antistatic properties [46] ATO Luminescence [66] CdS Luminescence [68] CdSe Elastic modulus [63] Elastic modulus [89] Tensile strength [64] Yield stress [89] Fracture Strain [89] Hardness [63] Glass Temperature [64] SiO 2 Magnetic properties [50,51] Fe 3 O 4 RI [43] CeO 2 RI [74] RI [75] RI [73] ZnS RI [77] RI [76] RI [78] PbS…”

Optimising conditions for the growth of nanocrystalline ZnS thin films from acidic chemical baths

“…It has applications in photonic crystal sensors [1], heterojunction diodes [2], thin film photovoltaic cells [3][4][5][6][7], optical filters [8], light emitting diodes [9] and anti-reflection coatings [10]. Several methods have been employed to synthesize thin films including spray pyrolysis [11,12], solvothermal synthesis [13,14], sol-gel [2], successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) [15], pulsed laser deposition [16], close-space sublimation [17], metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), photo-assisted MOCVD [18], RF-mganetron sputtering [19,20], electrodeposition [21,22], thermal evaporation [23], aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition (AACVD) [24,25], chemical bath deposition (CBD) [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] and film casting method [35,36]. Among these, CBD is potentially a simple, low temperature and cost effective method to high quality thin films.…”

Transformation of sulfur to organic-inorganic hybrids employed by networks and their application for the modulation of refractive indices

“…According to eq , it is represented that there is the trade‐off relationship between a refractive index and an Abbe number: An Abbe number decreases corresponded to the increase of a refractive index of the material. Indeed, by adding ZnS as a filler to poly(vinylpyrrolidone) films, the refractive index increased with drastically decreasing Abbe numbers . From the series of reports on the development of high‐refractive index polymers, it was suggested that the dependency of the refractive index of alkyl sulfide skeletons on the light wavelength intrinsically is small, leading to a high Abbe number.…”