Optical properties and thermal stability of Poly(vinyl butyral) films embedded with LaB6@SiO2 core-shell nanoparticles

In this work, LaB6@SiO2 nanoparticle with a core-shell structure was synthesized and doped into Poly(vinyl butyral) (PVB) matrix to prepare LaB6@SiO2-PVB nanocomposite film. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet-visible-near infrared spectroscopy (UV-vis-NIR) were employed to characterize these materials. The TGA and UV-vis-NIR results show that LaB6@SiO2 nanoparticle contributed to improving thermal stability of PVB in LaB6@SiO2-PVB film, with an increase of almost 60 °C from the initial decomposition temperature in the case of the neat PVB film; additionally, maximum transmittance in visible region red-shifted from 605 to 645 nm and maximum absorption in near-infrared region moved slightly from 1466 to 1472 nm. In short, the LaB6@SiO2 NPs could be a potential candidate for transparent and heat insulation materials.