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Photocontrol of the refractive index of poly(methyl methacrylate) with a nitrone additive
Author(s) -
Tanaka Kenta,
Shima Koichi,
Kondoh Harunobu,
Igarashi Tetsutaro,
Sakurai Tadamitsu
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.20704
Subject(s) - nitrone , refractive index , methyl methacrylate , materials science , polymer chemistry , polymer , methacrylate , photochemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , cycloaddition , monomer , optoelectronics , catalysis
Hydroxy‐substituted aromatic nitrone derivatives were used for the photochemical control of the refractive index of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films. Upon irradiation with 366‐nm light in solution, these derivatives underwent rearrangement reactions, which eventually produced N,N ‐diarylformamide derivatives in quantitative yields. Similar photoreactions of the aromatic nitrones in the PMMA films lowered the refractive index of the films by as much as 0.014. The magnitude of the observed refractive‐index change was enough for hydroxy‐substituted nitrones to be used as additives for the fabrication of graded‐index‐type polymer optical fibers. In addition, the refractive index of the PMMA films remained almost constant at any conversion of the starting nitrone derivatives for at least 70 days at room temperature. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2517–2520, 2004