Highly transparent polyimide/nanocrystalline-titania hybrid optical materials for antireflective applications

This study prepared polyimide/titania hybrid thin films of, poly(3,3′,4,4′-Benzophenone tetra carboxylic dianhydride)–(4,4-Diaminodiphenyl Ether)/nanocrystalline titania (BTDA-ODA/TiO₂), with a high refractive index. FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of a polyimide and titania matrix. TGA and DSC analysis gauged the decomposition temperature in the range of 455–532 °C, indicating that the addition of titania could increase the glass transition temperature of hybrid films. XRD results indicate the formation of nanocrystalline titania domains of approximately 8–11 nm in the hybrid films. AFM, SEM, TEM, and XRD results show the formation of well-dispersed nanocrystalline titania. The refractive index was measured by ellipsometry, demonstrating an increase in the refractive index of the prepared hybrid thin films from 1.657 to 1.958, when the titania content was increased from 0 to 90 wt.%. UV–vis analysis gauged the cutoff wavelength in the range of 288–357 nm. The prepared polyimide/titania hybrid thin films were used to develop a three layer antireflective (AR) coating on a glass substrate. The average reflectance of the AR was 0.5% for the PT20/PT90/F-siloxane layer and 0.6% for the PT20/PT90/porous silica. Transparency at 550 nm exceeded 90% for both AR coatings.