Robust, low haze and graded porous anti-reflective glass by Tailoring the Nanostructures

摘要

Low haze and anti-reflective glass has high potential applications in automobile and optoelectronic fields. Etching is a novel and effective method to fabricate gradient refractive index anti-reflective layer on glass surface. However, the gradient layer on glass surface prepared by the etching method usually characterizes rough porous structure, and the structural defect results in high haze and low abrasion resistance to restrict its applications. In this paper, a hydrothermal etching method has been explored to prepare anti-reflective glass. It has demonstrated to be a new and facile method successfully to tailor the porous nanostructure of gradient refractive index layer and largely decrease the haze of the glass, by adding complex compound in the etching solution. Compared with the etching solution containing NaOH, adding the complex compound of C6H5Na3O7 in the etching solution has the advantage to overcome the defects. The grain diameter of the graded porous anti-reflective film decreases from similar to 63 nm to similar to 18 nm, the etched film thickness increases from 0.44 mu m to 1.55 mu m, the haze decreases drastically from 23.76% to 1.00%, the reflectivity decreases from 5.88% to 1.08% and the abrasion resistance greatly increases. However, when changing the complex compound from C6H5Na3O7 to Na2HPO4, the haze is 23.44% and has no effect on decreasing haze. Structural characterizations show that the grain size in the porous gradient layer can be easily tailored by changing the ion radius of complex anion in the etching solution, and the optical properties can be controlled. The paper provides new insights into the nanostructures and the preparation approach of anti-reflective glass.