{"paper":{"title":"Enhancing the Refractive Index of Polymers with a Plant-Based Pigment","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["physics.optics"],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.soft","authors_text":"Alba Sicher, Bodo D. Wilts, Eric. R. Dufresne, Frank Scheffold, Mohammad Yasir, Tianqi Sai, Ullrich Steiner","submitted_at":"2021-05-16T13:06:34Z","abstract_excerpt":"Polymeric materials are prized for their formability, low density, and functional versatility. However, the refractive indices of common polymers fall in a relatively narrow range between 1.4 and 1.6. Here, we demonstrate that loading commercially-available polymers with large concentrations of a plant-based pigment can effectively enhance their refractive index.For polystyrene loaded with 67w/w\\% $\\beta$-carotene, we achieve a peak value of 2.2 near the absorption edge at $531~\\mathrm{nm}$, while maintaining values above 1.75 across longer wavelengths of the visible spectrum. Despite high pig"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2105.07434","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2105.07434/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}