Transparent and Photochromic Material Prepared by Copolymerization of Bismuth(III) Methacrylate

Abstract

Transparent, photochromic, and X-ray shielding polymer films were obtained by bulk radical copolymerization of bismuth(III) methacrylate (BiMA), easily synthesized from Ph 3 Bi and methacrylic acid, and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA). The refractive indices and X-ray shielding abilities were increased as the increase of the bismuth content. The photochromism, coloring by UV irradiation and discoloring under ambient conditions, occurs by reversible redox between the bismuth carboxylate structure and Bi(0). The facile preparation procedure using inexpensive substances is an advantage over those of previously reported bismuth-containing polymers.

Synthesis of Bismuth-Containing Polymer Films with High Refractive Index and X-ray Shielding Property by Radical Polymerization of Styrylbismuthine Derivatives

“…By contrast, the transmittance of the polystyrene films without bismuth with a thickness of 268 μm, 536 μm, 804 μm, and 1072 μm was 88.8%, 78.8%, 70.0%, and 62.3%, respectively. The radiopacity of poly­(MStBi 70 - co -TStBi 30 ) and polystyrene was calculated to be 1.60 μm-Al/μm-polymer and 0.07 μm-Pb/μm-polymer from the relationship between the thickness and the X-ray transmittance (Table ), and these values are higher than those of previously reported oxygen-bridged bismuth-containing polymer films , and polystyrene (0.03 μm-Al/μm-polymer). The radiopacity of the poly­(MStBi- co -TStBi) films is comparable to light metals in spite of the optical transparency.…”

“…With the increase of the TStBi content, the absorption below 500 nm became stronger, and the yellow color became deeper, probably because the vinyl units of TStBi remained conjugating with the arylbismuthine moieties (Figure ). The refractive indices at a wavelength of 589 nm ( n D ) of the poly­(MStBi- co -TStBi) films were higher than 1.7, reflecting the high molar refraction of bismuth (Table ), and these values are higher than that of polystyrene, the analogue without bismuth ( n D = 1.59), and previously reported oxygene-bridged bismuth-containing polymer films with n D below 1.6. , This result indicates the suitability of styrylbismuthine monomers to attain high refractive indices. The refractive indices are higher than those of a polymer nanocomposite material containing 0.3 wt % of Bi 2 O 3 nanorods ( n D ≃ 1.6 and I D % ≃ 75%) .…”

“…Recently, we also reported the synthesis of transparent polymer films consisting of bismuth carboxylate complex moieties by radical copolymerization of bismuth­(III) methacrylate with N , N -dimethylacrylamide . Although the polymer films exhibited high transparency, these films still have limitations such as insufficient refractive index ( n D < 1.55) due to the long length of the bismuth carboxylate bond and susceptibility to hydrolysis.…”

Deposition of Nanosized Amino Acid Functionalized Bismuth Oxido Clusters on Gold Surfaces

“…The environmentally benign nature of bismuth compounds offers access to novel sustainable materials and led to developments, e.g., in catalysis, medicine, radiopaque additives, and electronics [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Among the starting materials used for the synthesis of solid-state materials, bismuth(III) nitrate pentahydrate is one of the most common and readily available compounds.…”