Microporous silica thin films with low refractive indices and high Young's modulus.
A microporous silica thin film with low refractive index (low-n) of 1.27 and high Young's modulus of 19.5 GPa was obtained by sol-gel synthesis using hydroxyacetone catalyst with tetramethyl orthosilicate and water in ethanol. Transmission electron microscope images and nitrogen adsorption-desorption measurements showed that the pores in the synthesized silica were <1 nm in diameter. Unlike many other microporous synthesis methods, our method did not require sacrificial reagents as templates. This allowed low-temperature fabrication of high-strength low-n silica.
Division of Chemistry and Materials, Faculty of Textile Science and Technology, Shinshu University, 3-15-1 Tokida, Ueda, Nagano 386-8567, Japan. wats@shinshu-u.ac.jp
Wataru
W
Shimizu
Yasushi
Y
Murakami