International. A new technology could be of interest for the production of anti-reflective coatings for glass applications.
Researchers at the South China University of Technology have prepared a dispersion of polyurethane (PU)-SiO2 core-coat particles using an acid-catalyzed sol-gel process, using cationic-non-ionic PU particles as a mold.
The results of the average size, polydispersity index, and transmission electron microscope indicated that tetramethylortosilicate first diffused to the surface of PU particles, and then a hydrolysis and condensation reaction occurred to form nucleus and shell particles.
The anti-reflective coating formulation was prepared by dispersion of prepared core-shell particles and SiO2 sun binder. After immersion coating in the formulation, an anti-reflective coating was formed on the surface of the glass by calcination.
Scanning electron microscopy images showed that pores had formed inside the coating after removing particles from the PU template, and the surface of the coating could be almost completely closed. In addition, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometric analysis showed that the maximum transmittance of anti-reflective glasses can be as high as 98.6% at 548 nm.
Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com
