Application Prospects of High-Refractive-Index Photopolymers
High-refractive-index photopolymers (HRIPs) refer to polymers with a refractive index greater than 1.5 that can rapidly cure into films under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. In recent years, thin films composed of alternating high- and low-refractive-index layers have also been used as anti-reflective coatings, providing a broader absorption bandwidth and a wider range of incident angles, thereby increasing the short-circuit current of solar cells.
In addition, by stacking multiple quarter-wave and half-wave films with alternating refractive indices, complex interference patterns can be created to achieve desired spectral characteristics. These polymers have been extensively studied and show significant application potential in the manufacture of advanced optical devices, such as lenses, optical adhesives, holographic lenses, intraocular lenses, anti-reflective coatings, and LED encapsulation materials. Since the refractive index affects the propagation path of light — and a higher refractive index allows thinner material thickness — high-refractive-index polymers have attracted wide attention in response to the lightweight design requirements of modern optical devices.
Synthesis of Photopolymers Modified with 4,4′-Thiodiphenyl Dithiol Epoxy Resin
Anti-reflective coatings can effectively reduce surface reflectance in photovoltaic devices, increase light transmittance, and enhance photoelectric conversion efficiency. High-refractive-index coatings are a key component of anti-reflective films. However, traditional metal-oxide-based coatings suffer from poor stability and complex processing requirements.
To address this problem, we modified epoxy acrylates with 4,4′-thiodiphenyl dithiol and prepared two organic high-refractive-index (HRI) photopolymers. These polymers can be surface-patterned via nano-imprinting to fabricate anti-reflective coatings. The results show that, after curing, the two modified photopolymers exhibited high refractive indices (n > 1.63), high optical transmittance (T > 95%), and excellent thermal stability (Tg > 100 °C). In particular, the diphenyl sulfide photopolymer modified with ethyl isocyanate acrylate achieved a refractive index as high as 1.667 after UV curing. This demonstrates that organic HRI photopolymers can be obtained by introducing high molar-refraction functional groups, offering strong application potential as materials for improving the power-conversion efficiency of photovoltaic cells.
Product Information
2-Propenoic acid, thio-bis[4,1-phenylene(2-hydroxy-3-propane-1-diyl)] ester (CAS 180795-48-6) and
((((thio-bis(4,1-phenylene))bis(thioalkane-diyl))bis(methylene))bis(2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-5-diyl))bis(ethane-2,1-diyl) diacrylate) (CAS 2706602-45-9)
are used as key coating components in optical thin-film materials. They can be widely applied in AR-glasses coatings, optical lenses, LED encapsulation materials, solar-photovoltaic panel coatings, and other important optical and optoelectronic fields.
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