Bendable optical diffuser constructed by interfacial hydrogen-bonding polymer complexation

Stretchable Optical Diffuser Constructed by Alternate Procedure of Interfacial Complexation and Thermal Crosslinking

“…Interfacial polymer complexation is an applicable strategy to prepare optical diffusion films with excellent scattering capacity and desirable flexibility by tuning their composition and structure, and enables dynamic equilibrium deposition to obtain uniform film. [ 15 ] In this work, the optical functional layer is fabricated through the hydrogen‐bonding layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly of methylcellulose (MC)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) mixture (Mix‐ a , where a indicates the MC content in the mixture solution) and polymer complex nanoparticles (PCNP), while polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer that can withstand harsh physical stresses (e.g., stretching, bending, and twisting) [ 3 a, 16 ] is chosen as the substrate for stretchable optical diffuser. PCNP used in the preparation has average size around 244 nm and demonstrates exceptional dispersity and stability in aqueous solution (Figure S1, Supporting Information).…”

“…The similar phenomenon has been observed when PEO was incorporated into PVPON/PCNP complex in the previous report. [ 15 ] Unlike the brittle complex layer that cannot dampen energy and breaks at a very small strain, the coating layer modified soft will have high toughness and be able to dampen energy to avoid rupture or breakage during the fabrication and application. [ 19 ] Mix‐ a /PAA containing flexible PEO chains presents the enhanced and tunable stretchability, which demonstrates the potential to construct stretchable optical diffuser film.…”

“…During the assembly process, polymer complex chains have tendency to diffuse together, and PCNPs incline to collapse and physically merge, resulting in the low scattering effect. [ 15 ] The existence of hydrophilic PEO will further promote the physical diffusion of PCNP due to the flexible chain segments and high mobility in the presence of moisture. [ 20 ] Therefore, the optical diffusion performance of (Mix‐ a /PCNP) N is difficult to break through the threshold, especially after the incorporation of PEO.…”

“…The scattering performance of optical diffuser usually relates to its composition and structure. [ 14 b, 15 ] Here, (Mix‐40/PCNP) 10C*8 retains its structural integrity in the entire stretching process since the film will not rupture until the strain is higher than 70% (Figure 4). In addition, the PCNP tend to maintain the relative stable status rather than disruption or peeling off from the film, which also contributes to the high optical diffusion performance.…”

“…[ 14 ] Recently, our group successfully prepared a flexible optical diffuser with polymeric complexes, which presents a better bending resistance than the commercially available poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) optical diffuser (PMMA/PET). [ 15 ]…”