Polymer nanoparticle-based porous antireflective coating on flexible plastic substrate

Increased using of plastic optical elements has generated a need for applying antireflection coatings onto plastic substrates. In this paper we reported a facile method to preparing porous thin films on plastic substrates by spin-casting poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/polystyrene (PS) mixed latices, followed by selectively removing PS particles. The refractive index of the porous coating is directly related to its porosity which could be controlled by varying mixing fraction of the sacrificial PS particles. The obtained porous thin films exhibited excellent anti-reflective (AR) performance over visible range with minimum reflection of 0.02%. The powerful control on refractive index and the versatility of this method makes it practicable to prepare antireflective coating on various plastic substrates with optimal performance. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.