Monomer diffusion in sustainable photopolymers for diffractive optics applications

Abstract

Photopolymers have many applications in optics. However, one of the main drawbacks of these materials is the high toxicity of their components. One of the most widely studied photopolymers is polyvinyl-alcohol/acrylamide, and the carcinogenic potential of acrylamide is well known. In this paper we propose a new sustainable photopolymer as a substitute for acrylamide based photopolymers in the manufacture of diffractive optical elements. Diffraction efficiencies of around 40% were achieved for planar gratings. Monomer diffusion inside this new material was calculated directly for different compositions. Significant differences with acrylamide materials were found.