Modification of Optical Waveguide Material PMMA with Nano-Silicon by Sol-Gel Approach

Abstract

Hybrid inorganic-organic materials based on alkoxysilyl-functionalized and poly (methyl methacrylate) were prepared by the in-situ sol-gel approach in the presence of tethaethoxysilance. Interaction between silica network and polymer was analyzed by FTIR, and its influence on phase behavior of hybrid was also investigated by SEM. Thermal analyses indicated that P(MMA-MSMA)-Si had higher value of Tg ,about 170°C, than that of pure PMMA. Meanwhile, the hybrid samples behave favorable optical transparency with small optical loss of around 2 dB.