MULTI-LAYERED SCRATCH RESISTANCE FILM
A scratch resistant film formed by altering a surface energy of at least a portion of a substrate and disposing a first layer of coating on the substrate. The first layer of coating comprises a plurality of functionalized monomers and a solvent. The substrate then may enter a transition zone to wet the first layer of coating, wherein wetting the first layer of coating comprises disposing the substrate in a transition zone subsequent to disposing the first layer of coating. The first layer of coating is cured, and a second layer of coating is disposed on the first layer of coating, wherein the second layer of coating has a lower surface energy than the first layer of coating. The substrate may then enter a transition zone and be subsequently cured. A scratch-resistant film is formed; this film may be transparent, translucent, opaque, or combinations thereof.
1 . A scratch resistant film, comprising:
a substrate; and
a coating disposed on the substrate, wherein the coating comprises a cross-linked polymer structure formed from a plurality of functionalized monomers, wherein the coating comprises a plurality of layers, wherein the scratch resistant film has a pencil hardness of at least 6H.
2 . The film of claim 1 , wherein the coating has a cross-link density of at least 50%.
3 . The film of claim 1 , wherein the coating comprises a plurality of acrylic monomers, wherein each acrylic monomer of the plurality of acrylic monomers comprises between 1 and 6 acrylic functional groups.
4 . The film of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises at least one of polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polycarbonate, semiconductors, organic materials, cellulosic polymer, polymethyl(methyl)acrylates, printed circuit boards, and glass, as well as combinations thereof.
5 . The film of claim 1 , wherein the scratch-resistant film has a pencil hardness of up to 9H.
6 . A method of manufacturing a scratch resistant film, comprising:
altering a surface energy of at least a portion of a substrate;
disposing a first layer of coating on the substrate, wherein the first layer of coating comprises a plurality of functionalized monomers and a solvent;
curing the first layer of coating;
disposing a second layer of coating on the first layer of coating, wherein the second layer of coating has a lower surface energy than a surface energy of the first layer of coating;
curing the second layer of coating; and
forming, in response to curing the second layer of coating, a scratch-resistant film.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising cleaning the surface of the substrate, wherein cleaning the surface of the substrate and altering the surface energy of at least a portion of the substrate comprises applying a stream of high frequency electrons to the surface of the substrate.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein an intensity level of the stream of high frequency electrons is between about 1 W/min/m 2 and about 50 W/min/m 2 .
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the altered surface energy of the at least a portion of the substrate is between 20 Dynes/cm and 95 Dynes/cm subsequent to alteration.
10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein each of the first layer of coating and the second layer of coating has a thickness between 3 microns and 50 microns.
11 . The method of claim 6 , wherein curing the first layer of coating uses a different curing technique than curing the second layer of coating.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein, subsequent to disposing the first layer of coating, disposing the substrate in a transition zone, wherein the transition zone comprises a plurality of temperature zones that range from about 70° C. to about 200°.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein a first temperature zone of the plurality of temperature zones is about 70° C., wherein a second temperature zone of the plurality of temperature zones is about 120° C., and wherein a third temperature zone of the plurality of temperature zones is about 200° C.
14 . The method of claim 6 , wherein curing the scratch resistant coating comprises applying ionizing radiation to the scratch resistant coating using an electronic beam.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein applying the electron beam further comprises applying doses of electrons ranging from about 0.5 MRads to about 5 MRads over a time period ranging from about 0.01 seconds to about 5 seconds.
16 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the scratch resistant coating further comprises at least one of a photo-initiator or a thermo-initiator.
17 . The scratch resistant film of claim 6 , wherein the scratch resistant film has a cross link density of at least 50%.
18 . A scratch resistant film, comprising:
a substrate;
a scratch resistant coating disposed on the substrate;
wherein the scratch resistant coating comprises a cross-linked polymer structure comprising a plurality of layers and formed from a plurality of functionalized monomers;
wherein a pencil hardness of the scratch-resistant coating is at least 6H.
19 . The scratch resistant film of claim 18 , wherein the scratch resistant coating has a cross-link density of at least 50%.