Photostabilization Studies Of Silver/Polymethylmethacrylate Films

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Abstract
Degradation of the optical performance by ultraviolet (UV) light is currently one of the principal barriers in the development of silver/polymer films for solar thermal applications. We have conclusively shown that stabilizers added to polymer films do improve the weatherability of mirrors, and we have identified a series of representative examples within the most commonly used groups of UV stabilizers and incorporated them into polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) to enhance its effectiveness. We have found that the permanence of the stabilizers may limit mirror durability and that the stabilizer performance slowly diminishes because of photolysis and/or leaching and removal from the host polymer. Polymeric stabilizers are of interest on the basis that they will not leach from the host. Various polymeric UV-absorbing stabilizers have been synthesized from derivatives of 2-hydroxybenzophenone and 2-hydroxyphenylbenzotriazole. The relative effectiveness of the stabilizers in acrylic films will be discussed in terms of the weathering modes and retention of optical properties.

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