Preparation and characterization of novel ZnS/sulfur-containing polymer nanocomposite optical materials with high refractive index and high nanophase contents

Abstract A series of novel transparent bulk ZnS-polymer nanocomposites with high refractive index were successfully prepared via in-situ bulk polymerization in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol (ME)-capped ZnS NPs. The polymerization mechanism combined the step-growth and free radical polymerization of different monomers of episulfide, m-xylylene diisocyanante (XDI), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA). The high refractive index of episulfide compounds, including ESGMES, ESDGEBA and MPS, were synthesized and used as monomers in polymerization systems. The cured nanocomposites with 30 wt% nanoparticles show high refractive index and good transparency. The refractive index of the nanocomposites could be continuously regulated in the range from 1.59 to 1.65 by the content of ZnS NPs and the pencil hardness is round about 5H. The content of ME–ZnS NPs can affect the thermal stability, mechanical and optical properties of the resulting nanocomposites, and the relationship between them were studied by TGA, DMA, pencil hardness test, Charpy impact test.