Title: Influence of TEOS concentration and Triton additive on the nanostructure silica sol-gel anti-reflective coatings

Authors: Shahrokh Ahangarani; Najme Lari; Ali Shanaghi

Addresses: Advanced Materials & Renewable Energies Department, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran ' Advanced Materials & Renewable Energies Department, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran ' Materials Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran

Abstract: Nanostructured silica antireflective coatings were fabricated on glasses by sol-gel technique. Various silica sols [varying in composition: tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) concentration and Triton additive] were synthesised by the acidic catalysed process and then subsequently coated on substrates. The coatings prepared in this work were characterised using UV-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectrophotometer and filed emission scanning electron microscopy. Results indicated that the dense silica films permit a considerable reduction of these light reflections compared with uncoated glasses in all the cases studied, but the degree of reduction is different depending on the composition of the precursor solution. It was found that the transmittance increased from 0.915 for the bare slide up to 0.96 for the best made sample corresponding to the Triton-doped silica. The addition of Triton x-100 to the silica sols improved the optical property of thin films due to existence of nanoporous in the coatings. The SiO₂ concentration is an effective parameter to prepare the antireflective films. Decrease in SiO₂ precursor cause to decrease in gelation time and, therefore; the suitable SiO₂ particles and pores are well formed.

Keywords: sol-gel; silica thin films; anti-reflective coatings; optical properties; Triton.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMPT.2017.087027

International Journal of Materials and Product Technology, 2017 Vol.55 No.4, pp.319 - 330

Accepted: 05 Jun 2016
Published online: 05 Oct 2017 *

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