Under the joint supervision of Researcher Li Liangbin and Assistant Researcher Chen Jungeng, our Ph.D. candidate Tan Zhengqi and colleagues have developed and screened polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based modified materials for quarter-wave plate applications. Guided by theoretical calculations and verified through experiments, the team successfully obtained a series of biphenyl-aldehyde-modified materials and systematically investigated the regulation of their optical properties under different stretching conditions. This work also lays a solid foundation for the development of multi-side-group-modified PVA materials. The related study has been published in the journal Polymer.
In this article, Gaussian simulations were first employed to screen side groups with prominent polarizability, with biphenyl being particularly favored due to its molecular rigidity and high polarizability. In the experimental validation, the team identified suitable synthetic conditions where the molar acetalization degree of the products could be tuned (10%–50%) by adjusting the feed ratio and catalyst equivalents. A series of modified PVA materials were successfully obtained, and corresponding optical films were fabricated using solution casting. By inducing molecular chain orientation through uniaxial stretching, the researchers established the variation patterns of retardation and wavelength dispersion properties of the films under different stretching conditions. Based on these results, they determined the appropriate substitution ranges and stretching conditions for biphenyl-modified PVA materials, which also provide important insights for the future development of multi-side-group-modified PVA systems.
This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant JZHKYPT-2021-04), the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Grant 2308085UM04), the Hefei Municipal Major Science and Technology Special “Revealing the List and Taking Command” Project (Grant 2022-SZD-005), and the Hefei Municipal Major Special Guidance and Entrustment Project “Research and Development of Polyvinyl Butyral (PVB) Films for Automotive Safety Glass” (Grant 2021DX005).
Tan Z, et al. Biphenyl acetalized polyvinyl alcohol optical films with excellent extraordinary wavelength dispersion [J]. Polymer,2025, 128780.
Paper Link：https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymer.2025.128780
