3.

OPTICAL PROPERTIES

Optical properties of a substance are depends on the directional distribution of light after
impacting on the sample. Molecular structure, morphology, type and amount of
additives and processing conditions decide the optical behaviour of the plastic
materials. Additives like optical brighteners and nucleating agents can be used to
increase the surface optica and transmission properties respectively. The sensation of a
typical colour can be explained by the selective absorption of radiations of certain wave
lengths in the visible region of the spectrum.

Knowledge of the optical properties is needed for several reasons:

(a) Technical use is made of polymers as optical materials in lenses or light fixtures.
(b) The relatively large change of refractive index with deformation (Photoelasticity)
make polymers ideal materials for qualitative determination of stress deformation
fields.

General criteria for the degree of transparency of commercial polymeric materials may
be classified according to the following:-

1. Highly transparent materials: Polymers that are amorphous at room temperature

and contain no discrete particles of any form are usually very highly transparent to
visible light.
Example- PMMA, PS (atactic), PC, CB etc.
2. Semitransparent materials: There is a large group of polymeric materials which
are transparent in the form of thin films only. With increasing thickness of the film
the image clarity decreases until the material can no longer be called transparent.
This group of materials consists of transparent polymers containing varying amounts
of transparent of very small amounts of opaque inclusions. The transparent
inclusions can be different materials, such silica fillers, or a different phase of the
polymer i.e., crystallites.

Examples- silica filled styrene-butadiene rubber, polypropylene, and isotactic

polystyrene.
The decrease of light transmissibility with increasing amount of inclusions and film
thickness is caused primarily by scattering due to the dispersed particles, which
generally have a refractive index different from that of the polymer.

3. Opaque materials: Polymeric materials containing large amounts of opaque fillers

are opaque themselves, even in the form of thin sheets.

Examples- Elastomers or polyethylene filled with carbon black or polymers

containing large quantities of opaque dyes.
3.1 REFRACTIVE INDEX
Definition: Refractive index is the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity
of light in a transparent material. It can be calculated from the angles i and r of the
incident and refraction beams, respectively.
n = sin i / sin r

Significance:
 Refractive index can be used to calculate the bend angle of a beam of light as it
passes from one transparent medium to another.
 The index of refraction is a measure is how much light bends when it hits an object.
If the object has in index of refraction near that of air, the object will be transparent.
Glass, polycarbonate, polystyrene, and acrylic all have indices of refraction close to
air.
 Thus, the index of refraction is used in designing optical lenses and as a quality
control check of transparent plastics.

Test Method: ASTM D 542, ISO 489, DIN 53491

Specimen Dimension: Flat polished surface that can be accommodated on a

refractometer prism. Typically, 6.3 x 12.7 mm on one face is taken as the specimen
dimension.
Conditioning: Test specimens conditioned at 23  2C and 50  5% relative humidity
for 48 hours
Test Procedure:
A small drop of contacting liquid is placed at the center of the prism and then the test
sample is placed on the prism.
 The light source, index arm, and compensator drum are adjusted to align the sample
through the eyepiece.
 The refractometer will then provide a digital read-out of the refractive index.

Calculation:
The value of Refractive index is calculated by dividing the actual thickness of the
specimen to apparent thickness of the specimen.

Index of refraction = Actual thickness of the specimen

Apparent thickness of the specimen
Factor Influencing:
 Medium used: Denser medium have high refractive index. Ex. Refractive index of
Glycerol (75%) is 1.44 where as for polyvinyl alcohol it is 1.52-1.55.
 Wave length of light: Shorter wavelength than the original leading decrease in the
phase velocity and hence a decrease in the refractive index.
 Temperature: Refractive index is inversely proportional to the temperature of the
medium.
3.2 TRANSMISSION OF LIGHT AND HAZE

Definition: Light Transmittance is defined as the ratio of transmitted light to the incident
light.
Plastics differ in their ability to transmit light.
 Transparent plastics allows light to pass throw them
 Opaque plastics do not allow any light to pass through.
 Translucent plastics allow some light to pass through them, but the images are
cloudy and unfocused.
 Semi-opaque plastics allow enough light to pass through them and able to make out
shadows and vague outlines.

Haze is the scattering of light as it passes through a transparent material, resulting in

poor visibility and/or glare. In other words Haze is defined as the cloudy appearance
comes on the surface of specimen.
Haze and loss of clarity indicate discontinuities or irregularities within or at the surface of
the material and these could be filler particles, impurities.

Significance:
 Light that is scattered upon passing through a film or sheet of a material can
produce a hazy or smoky field, when objects are viewed through the material.
 Haze luminous:– transmittance value are especially useful for quality control &
specification purpose.
 Window glazing requires low haze & light transmittance light fixture requires both
high total transmittance & haze.
Test Methods: ASTM D 1003, ASTM D 1746, ASTM D 1494
Specimen Dimension: Approximately 50mm in diameter.
Conditioning: Test specimens conditioned at 23  2C and 50  5% relative humidity
for 40 hours prior to the test.
Test Procedure:
 The test specimen must be large enough to cover the aperture, but small enough to
be tangent to the sphere wall.
 A disc of 50 mm in diameter is most commonly used.
 The test is conducted by taking four different consecutive readings and measuring
the photocell output as follows:

where T1 = photocell output, specimen out, reflectance standard in beam

T2 = photocell output, specimen in, reflectance standard in beam
T3 = photocell output, specimen out, reflectance standard out of beam
T4 = photocell output, specimen in, reflectance standard out of beam.
The quantity represents that each reading are incident light total light transmitted by
specimen, light scattered by instrument, and light scattered by instrument and
specimen, respectively.
Calculation
Total transmittance Tt & diffuse Transmittance Td are calculated as
Tt = T2 / T1

Td = [ T4 – T3 (T2 / T1)] / T1

Haze % = Td / Tt x 100
Factor Influencing:
 Absorption of water
 Temperature: Transmission is inversely proportional to the temperature of the
medium.
 Moulding conditions
 Additives used
 Irregularities within or at the surface of the material due to molecular defects.

3.3 SPECULAR GLOSS

Definition: Specular Gloss is defined as the relative luminous reflectance factor of a

specimen at the specular direction.
Significance:
 Specular gloss is used primarily as a measure of shiny appearance of films and
surfaces.
 All specular gloss values are based on a primary reference standard .A polished
black glass with an assign specular gloss value is 100.

Test Method: ASTM D 523, ASTM D 2457, BS 2782, BS 3900

Specimen: Specimen surfaces must have good planarity, free from warpage, waviness
or curvature.
Conditioning: Test specimens conditioned at 23  2C and 50  5% relative humidity
for 48 hours
Equipment :

Gloss Meter
 It consists of a source optical assembly which houses an incandescent light source,
a condenser lens and a projection or source lens. The light beam is directed towards
the specimen at a specified angle.
 Three basic angle of incidence 60, 20 & 85 are used for specular gloss
measurement.
 A sensitive photo detector collects the reflected light and generates an electrical
signal that is amplified to energize an analog or digital panel meter to display the
value in gloss unit.
Test Procedure:
The instrument is turned on and placed on a black glass primary standard. The control
knob is adjusted so that the meter indicates the value assigned to the primary standard.
Next, the sensor is placed on the specimen surface and the gloss value is read directly
from the analog or digital display.
Calculation:
The instrument is calibrated during the operation at sufficiently frequent intervals to
assure that the instrument value is practically constant. If at any time an instrument fails
to repeat readings of the standard to within 2 percent of the prior setting the intervening
result should be rejected. The gloss value is directly read on the instrument.

Factor Influencing:-
 Surface property
 Temperature
 Humidity
 Polymer molecular weight, Melt pressure, injection pressure & mould
temperature also influences the gloss of a product.

3.4 COLOUR
Definition: The colour we see in an object is not in the objects but in our brains. This
brings a primary definition of colour which is defined as brain’s perception of light that
has been modified by the absorption of parts of its rays.
Significance:
 The colourability of plastics is much higher than that of other materials.
 Colours can be incorporated throughout the mass of the material.
 An aesthetic component can be incorporated with the use of a wide range of dyes
and pigments.
 Colours are also importantly used as a very simple means of part identifications.

o Colour ranges from dark to light – black is darkest, white is lightest, and grey is in
between. These are called neutral colours. This aspect of colour is termed
‘value’ or ‘lightness’.
 o There is another basis of colour difference – red differs from blue, green or
yellow. These distinctions are called ‘hue’. Hue is defined as the attribute of
colour perception by means of which an object is judged to be red, yellow, green,
blue, violet or their intermediates.
o Another dimension of colour is ‘saturation’ or ‘chroma’. This is defined as the
attribute of colour perception that expresses the degree of departure from grey of
the same lightness.

There are following terminology to understand the colour theory.

 Value: It is the color range from dark to light in which black being darkest and white
being lightest.
 Hue: Color has basic difference appearance such as red differ form blue green or
yellow these distinctions as called Hue.
 Chroma: Chroma is defined as the attribute of color perception that express the
degree of departure from grey of the same lightness

Relationship between Spectrum Colours & Wavelength

Spectrum Wavelength Spectrum Wavelength

colour (nm) Colour (nm)
Red 750 – 610 Green 555 – 510
Blue – Green
Orange 610 – 590 510 – 480
(Cyan)
Yellow 590 – 575 Blue 480 – 450
Yellow Green 575 – 555 Violet 450 – 400

Test Method: ASTM D 2244, ASTM D 1925, ASTM D 172, ASTM E 308, ISO 3557
ISO 4582
o
Conditioning: The test specimen is conditioned at 23 + 2 C and 50 + 5% relative
humidity for 40 hours prior to testing.
Equipment:
Equipment for applications dealing with colour and colour related properties falls into
two groups:
(i) Visual Devices: - When the human eye serves in a primary role in the
measurement pro-processes.
(ii) Instrumental: - When the human eye serves in a supporting role only. Instruments
for colour are further divided into two groups.
a) Tristimulus colorimeters for measurement of materials on either a reflectance or
transmittance basis and with measurements weighted with the standard observer
functions.
b) Reflectometers: - Reflectometers of a wide variety for the measurement of light
energy on a reflectance basis. (In selected cases the instrument is also available for
transmittance measurement). Usually reflectometer provides a single purpose
measurement such as total reflectance, lightness or yellowness, etc.
Test Procedure:
a) Visual Assessment of Colour and Appearance: -
The visual examination and evaluation of colour is the most commonly used
technique in the plastics industry:-
The two essential elements of visual colour evaluation are: -
(1) The viewing of both the sample and a standard by an experienced observer.
(2) The use of a predetermined light source at a fixed distance.

Instrumental:

Methods of Colour Measurement:

Two methods are used for colour measurement: -
 Spectrophotometer
  Calorimeters
 The instrument is calibrated against standard.
 A relatively flat, coloured specimen is placed in a specimen holder.
 A light source is illuminated.
 The CIE Lab Colour Scales are displayed on the instrument.
 The L, a, b values are noted down.
 The L, a, b values are correlated with L, a, b Chart.
Calorimeters as well as spectrophotometers calculate the yellowness index and the
whiteness index and mainly used for specification and colour matching requirement.
When contemplating the use of any colour measuring instrumentation, a very important
decision is the choice of colour scale or scales to be used in the evaluation of a
material. This choice is very important and cannot be made hastily. The following
guidelines will assist in making the proper decision.

(i) Where in colour space does the material fall?

Most colour scales can be used in any area of colour space. However, some colour
spaces (colour scales) are better for showing discrimination between small colour
differences in certain areas of colour space than others. For instance, the L, a, b colour
scales expand the darker regions of colour space and provide better discrimination of
most saturated colours. Conversely, the L, a, b systems are not as useful for very light
materials. In the white region of colour space, the X, Y, Z and Rd, a, b systems should
be considered.

(ii) What colour space does customer, supplier or industry use?

This somewhat obvious question is frequently over looked and may have more than one
answer. For instance, a customer may be familiar with purchasing product or materials
with values and tolerances expressed in the L, a, b system. Conversely, there must be
have a supplier providing raw material with values and tolerance expressed in the R d, a,
b or X, Y, Z system.
Colour Scales:-
The mathematical relationship between these L scales and the CIE X, Y, Z scale is as
follows: -

L, a, b (Hunter – Square Root)

½
L = 10Y ----- (1)
½
aL = 17.5 (1.02X – Y) /Y ----- (2)
½
bL = 7.0 (Y – 0.8467Z) / Y ----- (3)

L, a, b (Glasser, et al – Cube Root)

1/3
L = 25.29G ----- (4)
1/3 1/3
aL = 106.0 (R – G ) ----- (5)
1/3 1/3
bL = 42.34 (G – B ) ----- (6)
Where, G = Y R = 1.02 X B = 0.8467Z
CIE L*, a*, b* (1976) (CIELAB)
 1/3
L* = 116 (Y / Y0) – 16 ----- (7)
1/3 1/3
a* = 500 (X / X0) – (Y / Y0) ----- (8)
1/3 1/3
b* = 200 (Y / Y0) – (Z / Z0) ----- (9)

Where: X / X0, Y / Y0, Z / Z0 > 0.01 and X0, Y0, Z0 define the colour of the
nominally white object-colour stimulus.

Calculation
 Colorimeters & spectrophotometers calculate yellowness index as well as whiteness
index and is directly read by instrument.

Factor Influencing:-
 Type of illuminant
 Wave length of light
 Angle of illumination

3.5 CLARITY
0
Definition: Clarity is defined as ‘Light flux deviating less than 2.5 from the normal, on
the average’.
Significance:
The Clarity is the distinctness with object appears when viewed through a film. Clarity,
which may also be prescribed as the quality of image formation through a sheet, ends
upon the linearity of the passage of light ways through material. These deflections are
much small than those registered in haze measurements. While haze measurement
depends an wide-angle scattering, clarity is determined by small angle scattering Wide-
and small-angle scattering are not directly related to each other, i.e. haze
measurements cannot provide information about the clarity of a specimen and vice
versa.
Specimen: Specimen may be in form of sheet, or film.
 o
Conditioning: The specimen is conditioned at 23 + 2 C and 50 + 5% relative humidity.

Equipment: It consists of clarity sensing unit and photometric unit. Clarity sensing unit
consist of a light source, focusing lens, specimen holder & test cell.
Test Procedure:
The equipment is turned on. With no sample in position the unit is standardized until a
reading of 100.0 relative to air is obtained. If a calibrated standard is to be used, it is
inserted in the specimen holder, and the instrument brought to balance upon the value
assigned to the standard. The beam is blocked completely with a piece of block flet of
paper. ‘Zero adj’ knob is then turned until reading of zero is obtained. The specimen is
placed in the specimen holder. The reading is recorded as percentage clarity directly
from the measurement unit. Reading at several different position or orientation may be
taken and the results averaged for a more representative determination of clarity.
Factor Influencing:
 Humidity
 Wavelength
 Temperature