COATING COMPOSITIONS AND THEIR USE IN THE RESTORATIVE AND/OR PROTECTIVE TREATMENT OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ELEMENTS

摘要

Coating compositions that are radiation-curable and particularly useful for restorative and/or protective treatment of photographic elements are comprised of a polymerizable epoxy compound, a cationic initiator for initiating polymerization of the epoxy compound, a polymerizable acrylic compound, a haloalkylated aromatic ketone which serves as a free-radical initiator for initiating polymerization of the acrylic compound, and a polymerizable organofunctional silane. Photographic elements, such as still films, motion picture films, paper prints and microfiche are provided with a protective overcoat layer which is permanently bonded to the element by coating the element with the radiation-curable composition and irradiating the coating to bond it to the element and cure it to form a transparent, flexible, scratch-resistant, cross-linked polymeric layer. The protective overcoat layer can be applied to the image-bearing side of the element or to the support side of the element or to both sides. The radiation-curable composition can also be used as a restorative composition in the treatment of photographic elements which have scratches and defects such as abrasion marks which impair the appearance or projection capabilities of the element. In use as a restorative composition, the radiation-curable composition can be applied locally in the region of the defects only, to effectively eliminate them and restore the element to a substantially defect-free condition, or it can be applied over the entire surface of the element to both eliminate the defects and form a protective overcoat layer that is capable of providing protection against subsequent scratching or abrasion.