Nanocomposite materials comprising high loadings of filler materials and an in-situ method of making such materials

A method of fabricating a nanocomposite material in the form of a film, the method comprising generating nanoparticles in-situ within a polymer matrix by:

• (a) forming a coating solution of a nanoparticle precursor and polymer dissolved in a non-aqueous carrier liquid comprising one or more organic solvents, wherein nanoparticle precursor is a condensation polymerizable reactive metal compound comprising a metal atom and at least two hydrolyzable leaving groups;
• (b) applying the coating solution onto a substrate to form a coating and then removing organic solvent from the coating, thereby forming a gel;
• (c) converting the nanoparticle precursor into homogenously dispersed nanoparticles in a polymer matrix to form a nanocomposite;
• and
• (d) drying the nanocomposite to remove remaining organic solvent from the nanocomposite;
• wherein the nanoparticles in the nanocomposite comprise a plurality of nanoparticles having a shorter dimension of not more than 50 nm, as determined by transmission electron microscopy, and characterized by a nanoparticle loading of from 6.6 to 21.9 weight %,
• wherein the refractive index of the nanoparticles is between 1.65 and 1.95 at 400 nm.