Anti-reflective and superamphiphilic coatings on polycarbonate

Abstract

In this work, we investigated the transmission enhancement of a polycarbonate substrate (PC) at the beginning of the near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, by incorporating anti-reflective coatings (ARC) on the surface. Thin film ARC formed by combining layers of SiO2, TiO2, and SiNx were studied, and the influence of the layers thickness on the optical response of the systems was explored, with the objective of keeping the fabrication process simple, while maintaining high levels of light transmission. Moreover, we compare the results obtained with the thin film ARC with those for a more complex system formed by a hexagonal array of nanopillars. Transmission values close to 100% were theoretically predicted for both systems and experimentally measured with the thin film ARC. Additionally, we report a superamphiphilic behaviour for the thin film ARC studied experimentally, after contact angle measurements, which renders self-cleaning properties to the surface of the systems.