CNR ExploRA

Articolo in rivista, 2023, ENG, 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2023.128016

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) optical properties deterioration induced by temperature and protective effect of organically modified SiO2-TiO2 coating

Anna Szczurek, Thi Ngoc Lam Tran, Jerzy Kubacki, Anna G?siorek, Kamila Startek, Anna Mazur-Nowacka, Rossana Dell'Anna, Cristina Armellini, Stefano Varas, Alice Carlotto, Alessandro Chiasera, Anna ?ukowiak, Justyna Krzak, Maurizio Ferrari

Anna Szczurek a b, Thi Ngoc Lam Tran a c d, Jerzy Kubacki e f, Anna G?siorek b, Kamila Startek g h, Anna Mazur-Nowacka i, Rossana Dell'Anna j, Cristina Armellini a, Stefano Varas a, Alice Carlotto a k, Alessandro Chiasera a, Anna ?ukowiak h, Justyna Krzak b, Maurizio Ferrari a a IFN-CNR CSMFO Lab. and FBK Photonics Unit, Via alla Cascata 56/C, 38123, Povo, Italy b Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego St 25, 50-370, Wroclaw, Poland c Department of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milano, Italy d Department of Materials Technology, Faculty of Applied Science, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vo Van Ngan Street 1, Thu Duc District, 720214, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam e A. Chelkowski Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Uniwersytecka 4, 40-007, Katowice, Poland f Silesian Center for Education and Interdisciplinary Research, 75 Pulku Piechoty 1 A, 41-500, Chorzow, Poland g ?ukasiewicz Research Network--PORT Polish Center for Technology Development, Stablowicka 147, 50-066, Wroclaw, Poland h Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, PAS, Okolna 2, 50-422, Wroclaw, Poland i Department of Advanced Materials Technologies, Faculty of Chemistry, Wroc?aw University of Science and Technology, Smoluchowskiego 25, 50-370, Wroc?aw, Poland j Center for Sensors and Devices, Micro Nano Facility, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive 18, Povo, 38123, Trento, Italy k IFN-CNR, P.zza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133, Milan, Italy

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the most widely used polymeric substrates for flexible photonic applications. Like all polymers, its usage is limited by the modest environmental and temperature resistance. In this work, the optical properties deterioration of PET substrate, in the form of 175 ?m thick film, is discussed and the strategy to overcome this problem, by application of the sol-gel coating, is presented. The investigations of physicochemical changes occurring in PET after the thermal treatment at temperatures of 160 °C, 190 °C, and 210 °C were performed by various characterization techniques, such as thermal analysis (DSC - differential scanning calorimetry and TG - thermal gravimetry), structural and chemical composition analysis (XRD - X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS - X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and microscopic analysis (SEM-EDS - scanning electron microscopy with chemical composition analysis, AFM - atomic force microscopy). The 25-layer organically modified SiO2-TiO2 coating obtained by the sol-gel method is demonstrated to be an effective protection against the optical properties deterioration of PET. The protective effect is demonstrated by the comparison of surface morphology, and optical properties of PET, with and without the protective coating, after thermal treatment at different temperatures. The refractive index of materials and thickness of coatings have also been studied with M-line and white light reflectance spectroscopy (WLRS).

Materials chemistry and physics (Print) 306 , pp. 1–12