Synthesis, properties, and anti-reflective applications of new colorless polyimide-inorganic hybrid optical materials

We report the synthesis, properties and anti-reflective applications of new colorless polyimide-inorganic hybrid thin films prepared from 1,4-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)-2,5-di-tert-butylbenzene dianhydride (DDBBDA)/oxydianiline (ODA) with silica or titania precursors. The experimental results suggest that the prepared hybrid films have good thermomechanical properties, excellent transparence, tunable refractive indices of 1.550–1.847, and low optical birefringence. The nanocrystalline titania domain size analyzed form TEM and XRD is in the range of 10–20 nm in the hybrid materials. Three-layer anti-reflective films on glass or polymer substrates processed from the hybrid precursors have a relatively low reflection of less than 0.5% in the visible range. These results indicate that the newly prepared colorless polyimide-inorganic hybrid materials have potential applications for optical devices.