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Improved transparency switching in paraffin–PDMS composites
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Apostoleris, Harry Chiesa, Matteo Stefancich, Marco |
| Copyright Year | 2015 |
| Abstract | Composites of paraffin wax and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have previously been demonstrated to exhibit thermally-induced switching between a transparent ‘on’ state and opaque ‘off’ state; however, the transmittance of the on state in previously investigated composites was found to decrease with increasing the wax content, thus limiting the achievable off-on contrast. We present a new paraffin–PDMS composite formulation that exhibits essentially no decrease in on-state transparency up to a 10% wax concentration. We furthermore identify the underlying cause of the switching as a microstructural transformation from a homogeneous, transparent state to an inhomogeneous, light-scattering state as a result of the phase transition of the paraffin. We then present a model based on the theory of turbid media that allows for the estimation of the scattering power of a composite of known composition based on easily observed parameters, and suggest ways in which the contrast between the ‘on’ and ‘off’ states may be further enhanced. |
| Starting Page | 1371 |
| Ending Page | 1377 |
| Page Count | 7 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.1039/C4TC02546F |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/getauthorversionpdf/C4TC02546F |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.1039/C4TC02546F |
| Volume Number | 3 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
