Transparent Polymer Nanocomposite with Three-Dimensional ZnO Thin-Shell with High UV-Shielding Performance

Abstract

This paper introduces a nontrivial concept of a transparent nanocomposite with a three-dimensional (3D) ZnO thin-shell, as an ultraviolet (UV)-shielding reinforcement which absorbs all ranges of UV light, including UV-A (320 nm–400 nm). The continuous and ordered geometry of the 3D ZnO thin-shell, uniformly distributed in an epoxy matrix, efficiently captures incident UV light by repeatedly scattering and absorbing UV light at the epoxy-ZnO interfaces. Proximity-field nanoPatterning and atomic layer deposition can be employed to produce a 3D ZnO thin-shell array on a large scale (>1 inch2). The fabricated 3D ZnO/epoxy nanocomposite film exhibits excellent UV-shielding performance, blocking 95.20% of UV-A light. Transmittance at the edge of the UV-A range (400 nm) is suppressed by 64% (from 86% to 31%), while transmittance in the visible range (550 nm) is retained (from 90% to 75%). Moreover, the UV-shielding capability of the 3D nanocomposite film can be tailored by controlling the ZnO shell thickness from 0 nm to 45 nm. The 3D ZnO/epoxy nanocomposite provides a good option for next-generation transparent UV-shielding films.