Preparation of thermo-chromic nanocomposite films

Thermo-chromic silver-polystyrene films have been prepared by thermolysis of silver dodecyl-mercaptide dissolved in polystyrene matrices at quite low temperatures (ca. 150/spl deg/C). The thermo-chromic effect is probably related to the surface plasmon absorption band of silver nano-particles which strictly depends on the silver inter-particle distance. Such functional polymer-based material can be exploited for a number of advanced technological applications (e.g., optical windows, thermal sensors, etc.).