Polymer composite material, optical material including the same, and thermoplastic aromatic polymer

1. A polymer composite material, comprising:

a polymer matrix including a thermoplastic aromatic polymer having both an ester bond and an ether bond; and metal oxide particles dispersed in the polymer matrix;

wherein the thermoplastic aromatic polymer comprises:

a repeating unit having a (thio)ether bond and represented by General Formula (1) below; and

a repeating unit having no (thio)ether bond and represented by General Formula (2) below; and

wherein a percentage N, calculated from Equation 1 below, of the repeating unit represented by General Formula (1) is not less than 20 mol % but less than 60 mol %,

N=n 1 /( n 1 +n 2 )×100,  (Equation 1)

where n 1 is the number of moles in the repeating unit represented by General Formula (1); and n 2 is the number of moles in the repeating unit represented by General Formula (2),

where R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are independently a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from one another; a, b, c, and d are independently an interger(s) of 0 to 4; X 1 is an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; X 2 is a single bond, a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a C1 to C6 alkylidene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylidene group, a 9,9-flouroenylidene group, a hexoflouro-2,2-propylidene group, —SO—, —SO 2 —, or —CO—; and Ar 1 and Ar 2 are independently a phenylene group, naphthalene group, or biphenylene group, and are substituted or unsubstituted.

2. The polymer composite material according to claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide particles include an oxide of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zr, Tl, Y, Nb, In, Bi, La, Sb, Sc, Pb, and Ta.

3. The polymer composite material according to claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide particles have an average particle diameter of not less than 1 nm but less than 30 nm.

4. The polymer composite material according to claim 1 , wherein the metal oxide particles are contained in an amount which is not less than 5 weight % but less than 90 weight %.

5. The polymer composite material according to claim 1 , wherein when the polymer composite material is formed into a film having a thickness of not less than 30 μm, the film has a total luminous transmittance of not less than 75% and a haze of less than 20%.

6. An optical material comprising a polymer composite material recited in claim 1 .

7. The polymer composite material according to claim 1 , wherein:

the thermoplastic aromatic polymer is a block copolymer including an aromatic polyester segment and an aromatic polyether segment;

the aromatic polyester segment is not less than 10 weight % but less than 90 weight % relative to 100 weight % of the block copolymer; and

the aromatic polyether segment is not less than 10 weight % but less than 90 weight % relative to 100 weight % of the block copolymer.

8. The polymer composite material according to claim 7 , wherein the aromatic polyester segment includes an aromatic polyester represented by the following General Formula (3):

where R 5 and R 6 are independently a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from one another; e and f are independently an integer(s) of 0 to 4; X 3 is a single bond, a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a C1 to C6 alkylidene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylidene group, a 9,9-fluorenylidene group, a hexafluoro-2,2-propylidene group, —O—, —S—, —SO—, —SO 2 —, or —CO—; and Ar 3 is a phenylene group, naphthylene group, or biphenylene group, and is substituted or unsubstituted.

9. The polymer composite material according to claim 7 , wherein the aromatic polyether segment is an aromatic polyether represented by the following General Formula (4):

where R 7 is a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from each other; and g is an integer of 0 to 4.

10. The polymer composite material according to claim 7 , wherein

the aromatic polyether segment is an aromatic polyether represented by the following General Formula (5):

where R 8 and R 9 are independently a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from one another; h and i are independently an integer(s) of 0 to 4; and X 4 is a single bond, a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a C1 to C6 alkylidene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylidene group, a 9,9-fluorenylidene group, a hexafluoro-2,2-propylidene group, —O—, —S—, —SO—, —SO 2 —, or —CO—.

11. The polymer composite material according to claim 7 , wherein

the aromatic polyether segment is an aromatic polyether represented by the following General Formula (6):

where R 10 and R 11 are independently a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from one another; k and j are independently an integer(s) of 0 to 4; and X 5 is a single bond, a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a C1 to C6 alkylidene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylidene group, a 9,9-fluorenylidene group, a hexafluoro-2,2-propylidene group, —O—, —S—, —SO—, —SO 2 —, or —CO—.

12. A thermoplastic aromatic polymer comprising both an ester bond and an ether bond,

wherein said thermoplastic aromatic polymer comprises

a repeating unit having a (thio)ether bond and represented by General Formula (1) below; and

a repeating unit having no (thio)ether bond and represented by General Formula (2) below;

wherein a percentage N, calculated from Equation 1 below, of the repeating unit represented by General Formula (1) is not less than 20 mol % but less than 60 mol %,

N=n 1 /( n 1 +n 2 )×100  (Equation 1)

where n 1 is the number of moles in the repeating unit represented by General Formula (1); and n 2 is the number of moles in the repeating unit represented by General Formula (2),

where R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , and R 4 are independently a halogen atom, a C1 to C6 alkyl group, or a C6 to C12 aryl group, and may be identical to or different from one another; a, b, c, and d are independently an integer(s) of 0 to 4; X 1 is an oxygen atom or a sulfur atom; X 2 is a single bond, a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a C1 to C6 alkylidene group, C5 to C20 cycloalkylene group, a C5 to C20 cycloalkylidene group, a 9,9-flourenylidene group, a hexaflouro-2,2-propylidene group, —SO—, —SO 2 —, or —CO—; and Ar 1 and Ar 2 are independently a phenylene group, naphthylene group, or biphenylene group, and are substituted or unsubstituted.