Novel Nanocomposites for Optical Applications

Incorporation of various metals and their salts in simple base materials such as acrylic acid and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate has been achieved. Feasibility of designing metal-containing polymers based on different acrylates using radiation processing technique has been established. Novelty lies in the successful incorporation of metals such as barium, titanium and lanthanum in acrylic acid and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. This was something that was not possible so far. Clear and transparent nanocomposite materials based on acrylate polymers suitable for optical applications have been successfully developed. It is worth mentioning that gamma irradiation has been used as a safe, eco-friendly and viable tool for the development of metal-containing nanocomposites for optical applications. The metal containing nanocomposites have been cast into hard and clear lenses suitable for optical applications with the advantages of tailor-making of key optical properties such as refractive index and Abbe number. The findings of the work are unique, thanks to the innovative approach adopted.