Inorganic-organic nanocomposites for optical coatings

Abstract

The fabrication of nanoparticles by the sol-gel process and their use in polymeric of sol-gel-derived inorganic-organic composite matrices opens up interesting possibilities for designing new optical materials. Two different routes have been chosen for preparing optical nanocomposites: The first is the so-called "in situ route", where the nanoparticles are synthesized in a liquid mixture from Zr-alkoxides in a polymerizable system and diffractive gratings were produced by embossing uncured film. The second is the "separate" preparation route, where a sterically stabilized dry nanoboehmite powder was completely redispersed in an epoxy group-containing matrix and hard coatings with optical quality on polycarbonate were prepared.