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• Olivares-Pérez, A
• Toxqui-López, S
• Padilla-Velasco, AL.
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• Olivares-Pérez, A
• Toxqui-López, S
• Padilla-Velasco, AL.
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• Olivares-Pérez, A
• Toxqui-López, S
• Padilla-Velasco, AL.

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Materials 2012, 5(11), 2383-2402; doi:10.3390/ma5112383

Article

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

Arturo Olivares-Pérez ^1,* , Santa Toxqui-López ²  and Ana L. Padilla-Velasco ²

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

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 21 September 2012; in revised form: 8 October 2012 / Accepted: 23 October 2012 / Published: 20 November 2012

Download PDF Full-Text [379 KB, uploaded 20 November 2012 09:26 CET]

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: holographic material; diffraction gratings; holography; pheophytins; biopolymer; nanosciences; chlorophyll

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