Estimation of Coloration Properties of PA6/TiO2 Nanocomposites Based on Combined Light Scattering Theories

Abstract

Optical properties of nanocomposites areimportant and useful in their consumer satisfaction capacities. In thisresearch, coloration properties of dyed PA6/nano TiO2 nanocompositeis studied using a combined Mie and Kubelka-Munk light scattering theory. Mietheory uses the relative refractive index of a small particle to calculate thelight scattering efficiency of a material while Kubelka-Munk theory inputsthese efficiencies in order to evaluate the optical properties of a multiplescattering opaque object. Optical properties of a Polyamide 6/Nano TitaniumDioxide films containing 0.01% and 0.03% nano TiO2 particles with40nm and 50nm radius respectively, was investigated after dyeing with twodifferent acid dyes and then compared to experimental measurements. Then thespectral reflectance and color values of nanocomposites with different particlesizes were predicted using the same method. Results show that by taking the refractiveindex as an intrinsic property of a particle, it is possible to estimate andmodel the coloration properties with a defined size while in addition; it canhelp to predict these properties for different particle sizes.