Enhancing refractive index of sol-gel coatings for polymeric substrates
Inorganic colloids TiO2 and ZnO have been successfully prepared using different “bottom up” techniques, such as Sol-gel and Solvo-thermal processes. Various characterization techniques such as XRD, DLS were employed to study the crystal phase, particle size and zeta-potential. It was discovered t...
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| Format: | Final Year Project |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2009
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/16889 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | Inorganic colloids TiO2 and ZnO have been successfully prepared using different
“bottom up” techniques, such as Sol-gel and Solvo-thermal processes. Various
characterization techniques such as XRD, DLS were employed to study the crystal
phase, particle size and zeta-potential. It was discovered that TiCl4/Benzyl alcohol and
ZnAC2/MeOH processes gave the smallest particle sizes of 44.97nm and 295.3nm for
TiO2 and ZnO colloids respectively, while LTDRP technique produce phase pure
Rutile Titania.
Optical characterizations such as ellipsometry and UV-VIS spectroscopy were also
conducted; to investigate the impact of colloid and coating parameters on the optical
and mechanical performances of the coatings. From experimental results, it was
concluded that average transmittance and refractive index of the coatings, decreased
with increased in coating thickness, crystal phase, particle size and colloid
concentration; while hardness of coating was dependent solely on the thickness of the
thin film. To date, the highest refractive index coating was prepared using 1g of Rutile
Titania with particle size of 73.78nm in a GLYMO/TEOS matrix. The properties
achieved were refractive index of 1.695, average transmittance of 89.35% and a
hardness of 2H. |
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