Studies of optical properties of UV-cured acrylate films modified with spherical silica nanoparticles

• Increasing silica content in UV-cured acrylate films decreases their transmittance.
• Increasing silica content improves haze and light diffusing ability of the films.
• Spherical silica nanoparticles effectively improve optical properties of the films.
• The films may be utilized in electronic display technologies.

This study presents the optical properties of UV-cured acrylate films modified with spherical silica nanoparticles. The nanoparticles together with the UV-acrylate monomer solution were first prepared by an ultrasonic method to produce a suspension of silica–acrylate. The UV-cured acrylate films modified with the nanoparticles were fabricated by coating the suspension on cleaned glass substrates, then exposed to UV light for 10 min at ambient temperature. The effect of the silica nanoparticle content on the optical properties of the modified films was determined by a UV–Vis spectrophotometer and an apparatus equipped with a laser. Based on the visible absorption data, the transmittance of all the modified film coated substrates is lower than that of the unmodified film. The transmittance of the modified films decreases with the increasing silica content. The increasing silica content also improves the haze and light diffusing ability of the modified films. The highest haze of about 0.26 and the largest range of scattered light were achieved using the film modified with 30 vol% particles. These nanoparticles show a good potential to improve the optical properties of the UV-cured acrylate film, especially the light diffusing property that may be utilized in electronic display technologies.

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