Preparation of Optical Resins Containing Dispersed Gold Nanoparticles by the Matrix Sputtering Method

摘要

Inorganic/organic hybrid optical materials have garnered much interest because they can display material properties, such as the index of refraction or thermal, mechanical, and luminescent properties, that are more desirable than the properties of pure organic materials. To obtain transparent hybrid materials that include nanoparticles (NPs), it is necessary to avoid Rayleigh scattering from the NPs in the matrix. The size of NPs in the hybrid material should be smaller than one-tenth the wavelength of visible light. However, NPs tend to aggregate if the affinity between the NP surfaces and the organic matrix is low. Hybrid optical materials may be prepared either by dispersing the NPs or by synthesizing NPs within a matrix. The former approach requires the addition of a dispersing agent to minimize aggregation of the NPs; the latter approach may introduce byproducts into the matrix. Both methods have the drawback of requiring multistep processes.