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Mesoporous nanocomposite coatings for photonic devices: sol–gel approach

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Abstract

Thermally stable, optically active inorganic nanocomposites, i.e., aluminum–silicate (AS) and silica–titania (ST), are synthesized via acid-catalyzed low-temperature sol–gel method in order to get stable, crack-free coating material for photonic devices. The samples are characterized by atomic force microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett––Teller (BET) surface area, Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) pore size distribution surface analysis and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Microscopic results show good incorporation of ST and AS particles as composites with grain size within range of 12–17 and 62–109 nm, respectively. EDX analysis substantiated the stoichiometric formation of homogeneous nanocomposites. XRD of the films reveals primary polycrystalline anatase titania phase and mullite phase of ST and AS nanocomposites. FTIR confirms the heterogeneous bond linkage between titania, silica and alumina species. Furthermore, the fabricated samples have mesoporous nature with high surface area, large pore volume and diameter. The tunable refractive index of 1.33–1.35 with high transparency is obtained for synthesized nanocomposites. The experimental findings show that these physically modified and thermally stable alumina- and titania-doped silica-based composite coatings are promising for photonic devices modification.

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Acknowledgments

The authors like to express their gratitude to the Government of Malaysia through grant FRGS vote 4F543 for the financial support in this project. Thanks are also due to UTM through RMC for awarding the Postdoctoral fellowship to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laser Centre, Ibnu-Sina Institute for Scientific and Industrial Research, University Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Shumaila Islam, Noriah Bidin & Lau Pik Suan

  2. Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

    Saira Riaz & Shahzad Naseem

  3. Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Mohd. Marsin Sanagi

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  1. Shumaila Islam
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  2. Noriah Bidin
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  3. Saira Riaz
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  6. Mohd. Marsin Sanagi
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Correspondence to Shumaila Islam.

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Islam, S., Bidin, N., Riaz, S. et al. Mesoporous nanocomposite coatings for photonic devices: sol–gel approach. Appl. Phys. A 122, 935 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-0430-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-016-0430-z

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