UVA‐shielding silicone/zinc oxide nanocomposite coating for automobile windows

Among all types of ultraviolet radiation, UVA rays are the most prevalent and can penetrate clouds and glass. In this article, we report the fabrication of a novel silicone/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposite that has outstanding performance in shielding the harmful UVA light. We prepared wurtzite ZnO nanoparticles of three growth durations and dispersed them in a transparent silicone matrix via solution mixing. Our results exhibit a red shift in the absorption peak of the nanocomposites when compared with ZnO colloidal dispersions and decreasing the growth duration of ZnO nanoparticles could improve the UVA-shielding properties of the nanocomposite. In addition, the nanocomposite presents good shear adhesion strength over 10.5 MPa on glass substrate. The excellent optical and mechanical properties of the novel nanocomposite make it highly promising for automobile window coatings. POLYM. COMPOS., 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers