Optimization of Optical Properties of Polycarbonate Film with Thiol Gold-Nanoparticles

A new nanostructured composite film based on thiol gold nanoparticles dispersed in polycarbonate and prepared by evaporating a solution of 1-dodecanthiol gold nanoparticles and polycarbonate was developed for applications as optical lenses. Lenses with superior mechanical properties, coloring and UV ray absorption and with the same transparency as the matrix were obtained. The supporting highly transparent polycarbonate matrix and the chloroform solution of thiol gold nanoparticles, 3 nm mean size, was mixed according to a doping protocol employing different concentrations of thiol gold nanoparticles vs. polycarbonate. The presence of nanoparticles in the polymer films was confirmed by the spectrophotometric detection of the characteristic absorbance marker peak at 540–580 nm. The nanostructured films obtained show a better coverage in the UV-vis range (250–450 nm) even at very low doping ratios, of the order of 1:1,000. These results offer a very promising approach towards the development of efficient nanostructured materials for applications to optical lenses.