Highly flexible and optical transparent 6F-PI/TiO2 optical hybrid films with tunable refractive index and excellent thermal stability

Guey-Sheng Liou; Po-Han Lin; Hung-Ju Yen; Yang-Yen Yu; Tsung-Wei Tsai; Wen-Chang Chen

doi:10.1039/B916758G

Highly flexible and optical transparent 6F-PI/TiO₂ optical hybrid films with tunable refractive index and excellent thermal stability†

Guey-Sheng Liou,*^a Po-Han Lin,^a Hung-Ju Yen,^a Yang-Yen Yu,^b Tsung-Wei Tsai^b and Wen-Chang Chen^ac

* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Road, 4th Section, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
E-mail: gsliou@ntu.edu.tw

^b Department of Materials Engineering, Mingchi University of Technology, 84 Gungjuan Road, Taishan, Taipei 243, Taiwan

^c Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Road, 4th Section, Taipei 10617, Taiwan

Abstract

In this study, a synthesis route was developed for preparing highly transparent novel polyimide-nanocrystalline-titania hybrid optical films with a relatively high titania content (up to 50 wt%) and thickness (20–30 μm) from a soluble polyimide 6F-poly(p-hydroxy-imide) (6FPI). It has been demonstrated that the introduction of bulky CF₃ groups into polyimide backbones enhanced both solubility and optical transparency. Furthermore, the attachment of hydroxyl groups provided the organic–inorganic bonding and resulted in homogeneous hybrid solutions by controlling the mole ratio of titanium butoxide : hydroxyl groups. AFM, SEM, TEM, and XRD results indicated the formation of well-dispersed nanocrystalline-titania. The flexible hybrid films revealed excellent optical transparency in the visible range, good surface planarity, high thermally dimensional stability, and tunable refractive index. A three-layer anti-reflection coating based on the hybrid films was prepared and revealed a reflectance of less than 0.7% in the visible range, indicating its potential optical applications.

$Graphical abstract: Highly flexible and optical transparent 6F-PI/TiO2 optical hybrid films with tunable refractive index and excellent thermal stability$

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/B916758G
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 13 Aug 2009
Accepted: 08 Oct 2009
First published: 12 Nov 2009

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J. Mater. Chem., 2010,20, 531-536

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Highly flexible and optical transparent 6F-PI/TiO₂ optical hybrid films with tunable refractive index and excellent thermal stability

G. Liou, P. Lin, H. Yen, Y. Yu, T. Tsai and W. Chen, J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 531 DOI: 10.1039/B916758G

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