Small and Smaller- Incorporating nanosilica. technology of different particle size for new improvements in UV-curable coatings

摘要

THE blending of mineral fillers with organic polymeric materials typically provides highly improved mechanical and physical properties of the cured polymer. Unfortunately, the use of conventional mineral filling materials (e.g. quartz flour or fumed silica) is usually accompanied by cost- and energy-intensive dispersion technologies. These conventional fillers could potentially give a dramatic viscosity increase within the formulation and hamper, or even prohibit, processing. In addition, some properties of the cured material are negatively affected like brittleness and transparency. To overcome the disadvantages of conventional mineral fillers, extensive research and development efforts have yielded nanosized mineral filling materials with an average size of 1-100 nm. These nanosized particles proved to dramatically reduce formulation viscosity and thereby enhance mechanical and optical properties of the cured organic polymer. Thus, it was possible to improve the scratch resistance and hardness of UV-cured coatings while simultaneously keeping the optical transparency equivalent to unfilled materials.