Transparent and foldable protective coating
A new study presents a transparent and flame-retardant hybrid protective coating with high surface hardness that is yet foldable.
With the rapid development of flexible OLED display technology, Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) has also received extensive attention as a protective film. However, it is still a challenge to endow PET with abrasion resistance and flame retardancy while maintaining transparency and flexibility. Researchers have now developed an epoxy-amine curing hybrid coating based on phosphorus-containing organic amine (DPNP) and ladderlike epoxy-oligosiloxane (AEOS). The ratio of DPNP and AEOS was changed to study the effect of phosphorus and silicon content on the performance of hybrid coatings. All the coatings were transparent.
Good UV resistance
The PET/AE-DP3 sample achieved the limiting oxygen index of 28 % and exhibited self-extinguishing in vertical burning test. In addition, the AE-DP3 coating could withstand the abrasion of copper mesh among other things and showed good foldability with a bending diameter of 5 mm. At the same time, the coating exhibited satisfactory adhesion without plasma treatment and good UV resistance. As the researchers point out, these results indicated the hybrid coating overcome the inherited weakness of PET film such as poor scratch-resistance and flammability, promoting the wider application of PET.
The study has been published in Progress in Organic Coatings, Volume 175, February 2023.
