Biomimetic Synthesis of Antireflective Silica/Polymer Composite Coatings Comprising Vesicular Nanostructures.
Antireflective (AR) silica/polymer composite coatings on glass and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates were prepared by silica mineralization of layer-by-layer (LbL) assembled films composed of polystyrene-block-poly(l-lysine)/poly(l-glutamic acid) (PS-b-PLL/PGA) complex vesicles without any post-treatments. PS-b-PLL AB and A2B block copolymers with appropriate block ratio can self-assemble to form vesicles, which can be deposited onto substrates without dissociation. Silica deposition specifically onto the complex vesicles in the multilayer films through amine-catalyzed polycondensation results in the continuous, intact composite coatings comprising vesicular nanostructures, which provided an additional parameter for tuning their optical properties. The film thickness and porosity are mainly dictated by the bilayer number and the degree of deformation/fission of vesicles upon complexation and mineralization, depending on polymer composition. The coated PMMA substrate with maximum transmission over 98% can be achieved at the optimized wavelength region. The AR composite films were mechanically stable to withstand both the wipe and adhesion tests due to the preparation of continuous, intact films. This study demonstrated that the concept of preparing composite films comprising vesicular nanostructures through the combination of LbL assembly and biomineralization is feasible.
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No 1 , University Rd., Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
Ting-Xuan
TX
Lin
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No 1 , University Rd., Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
Feng-Ming
FM
Hsu
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No 1 , University Rd., Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
Yun-Lun
YL
Lee
Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-S1-13 Ohokayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
Raita
R
Goseki
Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1-S1-13 Ohokayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan.
Takashi
T
Ishizone
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University No 1 , University Rd., Tainan 70101, Taiwan.
Jeng-Shiung
JS
Jan
antireflective coating; biomineralization; layer-by-layer assembly; silica/polymer composites; vesicles