Transparent and UV-shielding ZnO@PMMA nanocomposite films

We fabricated successfully the visible light (VL)-traversing and ultraviolet (UV)-shielding zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs)-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanocomposite films by incorporating suitable UV-absorbing ZnO QDs into a transparent PMMA matrix. The ZnO QDs of about 5 nm were first synthesized via a sol-gel route. Then the 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylmethacrylate (TPM) as a coupling agent is bound to the surface of ZnO QDs, inhibiting the agglomeration of QDs and promoting the compatibility between ZnO QDs and PMMA matrix. Such the transparent ZnO@PMMA nanocomposite films exhibit the prominent UV-absorbing capability and the high optical transparency in the visible-wavelength region, thus have direct practical applications such as UV-shielding windows and glasses. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.