Abstract

Contact lenses (CLs) are produced from optical polymers which recommended by experts to treat the refractive errors. Researchers are looking for ideal materials in order to improve the CLs optical qualities. This investigation gathers polymeric materials merits to choose the desired pure or doped polymer for the purpose of CLs manufacturing.

Methods: high performance CLs can be made of polymers with high transparency nanocomposite because of the need for optical plastic merits such as light weight, transparency, Biocompatibility, the ability to modify its refractive index and abbe number.

Results: TiO2-PMMA and TiO2-PHEMA nanocomposites can be considered the best candidate polymers in CLs fabrication due to its optical properties where it possesses RI higher than 1.52, νd of 30-54, transmittance higher than 92% and its flexibility and biocompatibility to the human eye tissues.

Conclusion: this article demonstrates the advancement of polymer properties utilized in optical applications focusing on RIs, νd and visible light transmittance of the optical plastics that can be utilized in the CLs manufacture or evolution of them.

Keywords: Contact lens; Refractive index; Abbe number; Hybrid materials; Doped polymer