Nopal Cactus (Opuntia Ficus-Indica) as a Holographic Material

Materials

Arturo Olivares-Pérez¹  Santa Toxqui-López² 

[1]Optical Department, National Institute of Astrophysics Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Luis Enrique Erro No.1, Tonantzintla, Puebla 72840, Mexico

[2]Engineering Faculty, Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla 72000, Mexico

[3] E-Mails:

关键词: holographic material;    diffraction gratings;    holography;    pheophytins;    biopolymer;    nanosciences;    chlorophyll;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ma5112383

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The nopal cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) releases a substance through its mucilage, which comes from the degradation of pectic substances and chlorophyll. Combined in a polyvinyl alcohol matrix, this substance can be used as a recording medium. The resulting extract material has excellent photosensitizer properties, is easy to handle, has a low cost, and low toxicity. This material has the property of self-developing, and it can be used in holographic applications. The polyvinyl alcohol and extract from the nopal cactus was deposited by a gravity technique on a glass substrate, which dried to form a photosensitive emulsion. We show experimental results on a holographic grating using this material, written by a He-Cd laser (442 nm). We obtained diffraction gratings by transmission with a diffraction efficiency of approximately 32.3% to first order.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.