Preparation and Optical Properties of Novel Transparent Al-Doped-ZnO/Epoxy Nanocomposites

In this paper, preparation and optical properties of novel transparent Al-doped zinc oxide (AZO)/epoxy nanocomposites were reported. First, AZO precursor was synthesized via the homogeneous precipitation method and AZO nanoparticles were obtained by calcination of the precursor at different temperatures. Transparent AZO/epoxy nanocomposites were subsequently prepared from the transparent diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A epoxy resin and the as-prepared AZO nanoparticles via a simple direct dispersion method. Optical properties, namely visible-light transmittance, ultraviolet, and infrared opaqueness, of the AZO/epoxy nanocomposites were studied as a function of the AZO content by using an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer and an ultraviolet-visible-nearinfrared spectrophotometer. The results indicated that the nanocomposite with a thickness of about 3.5 mm containing a low AZO content of 0.08 wt % showed an excellent UV-shielding efficiency greater than 85% at similar to 360 nm together with a good visible transmittance greater than 70% at similar to 650 nm. Moreover, the AZO addition obviously enhanced the infrared light shielding efficiency of the epoxy resin.