Preparation and characterizations of highly transparent UV-curable ZnO-acrylic nanocomposites

A sol–gel chemical route was adopted to prepare the zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles as small as 4 nm. UV-curable ZnO-acrylic nanocomposites were then prepared by employing 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TPMA) as the surface modification agent of ZnO particles. UV–vis analysis revealed a high optical transparency (>95%) in visible light region for nanocomposite thin films with ZnO contents up to 20 wt.%. The addition of ZnO nanoparticles also enhanced the dielectric constants of nanocomposites and the dielectric constants greater than 4 in frequencies ranging from 1 to 600 MHz was obtained in the samples containing 10 wt.% of ZnO nanoparticles. A comparison of experimental results and theoretical calculation indicated that the interfacial polarizations in between ZnO nanoparticles and polymer matrix may play an important role in the enhancement of dielectric properties of nanocomposites.