As the need for high-refractive-index materials escalates
to meet
the growing demands for antireflective coatings and various photonic
devices with robust mechanical properties, elastomeric polymer nanocomposites
containing a high loading level of zirconia nanoparticles afford tremendous
promise. In this study, the interactions between two functionalized
zirconia nanoparticles, one reactive and the other passive, with a
short-chain, UV-curable poly(dimethylsiloxane) in solvent are systematically
examined by dynamic rheology. The effects of surface functionality,
as well as UV light intensity and nanoparticle loading, on the cross-linking
behavior are elucidated, and both filled systems are observed to form
cross-linked networks at loading levels of up to 85 wt % zirconia.
The time required to achieve dynamic modulus crossover (indicating
network formation) exhibits a power-law dependence on the UV light
intensity for both systems at all zirconia contents. At high loading
levels of the passive nanofiller (75 wt % zirconia), the resulting
films appear opaque, possessing significantly higher turbidity than
those containing reactive nanoparticles, which conversely yield films
with low turbidity and high optical clarity at loading levels as high
as 80 wt % zirconia. Reactive zirconia is more strongly incorporated
into the polymer network than passive zirconia, as evidenced by values
of the ultimate gel moduli, zirconia leaching from solvent-swelled
films, and the topologies of cross-fractured surfaces.