Waterborne Hydrophobic Hard Coatings Based on Fluorinated Silica with Maintained Optical Transparency for Automotive Display Films
- 1Korea Automotive Technology Institute (KATECH) , , 303 Pungse-ro, Pungse-myeon, Dongnam-gu , , ,
Abstract
A waterborne fluorinated silica nanoemulsion was developed as a multifunctional additive for transparent automotive display coatings. Aqueous colloidal silica was first functionalized with γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MPS), followed by KPS-initiated polymerization of dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFMA). The modified silica was blended with a waterborne acrylate emulsion and wet-coated onto PC/PMMA films. Solid-state 29Si NMR confirmed γ-MPS condensation through the formation of T2 and T3 species, while XPS verified the introduction of DFMA-derived fluorinated groups. The optimized coating exhibited a water contact angle of approximately 107°, pencil hardness up to 3H, and visible-light transmittance of about 90% or higher. Fingerprint contamination and wiping tests further demonstrated improved easy-clean performance; the haze of the coated film decreased to approximately 0.99% after only two wiping steps, compared with 1.52% for bare PC/PMMA under the same conditions. After 100 steel-wool abrasion cycles, the transmittance change was limited to 0.4%, compared with 0.9% for the unfilled acrylic coating and 2.7% for bare PC/PMMA. SEM analysis confirmed reduced scratching and surface deformation. These results demonstrate a promising waterborne route to transparent, hydrophobic, easy-clean, and abrasion-resistant coatings for automotive display applications.
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BibTeX
@article{im2026waterborne,
title = {{Waterborne Hydrophobic Hard Coatings Based on Fluorinated Silica with Maintained Optical Transparency for Automotive Display Films}},
author = {Hyungu Im and So Jeong Park},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c08467},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/42/65547/5451929/Waterborne-Hydrophobic-Hard-Coatings-Based-on},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Waterborne Hydrophobic Hard Coatings Based on Fluorinated Silica with Maintained Optical Transparency for Automotive Display Films
AU - Hyungu Im
AU - So Jeong Park
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c08467
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/42/65547/5451929/Waterborne-Hydrophobic-Hard-Coatings-Based-on
AB - A waterborne fluorinated silica nanoemulsion was developed as a multifunctional additive for transparent automotive display coatings. Aqueous colloidal silica was first functionalized with γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (γ-MPS), followed by KPS-initiated polymerization of dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFMA). The modified silica was blended with a waterborne acrylate emulsion and wet-coated onto PC/PMMA films. Solid-state 29Si NMR confirmed γ-MPS condensation through the formation of T2 and T3 species, while XPS verified the introduction of DFMA-derived fluorinated groups. The optimized coating exhibited a water contact angle of approximately 107°, pencil hardness up to 3H, and visible-light transmittance of about 90% or higher. Fingerprint contamination and wiping tests further demonstrated improved easy-clean performance; the haze of the coated film decreased to approximately 0.99% after only two wiping steps, compared with 1.52% for bare PC/PMMA under the same conditions. After 100 steel-wool abrasion cycles, the transmittance change was limited to 0.4%, compared with 0.9% for the unfilled acrylic coating and 2.7% for bare PC/PMMA. SEM analysis confirmed reduced scratching and surface deformation. These results demonstrate a promising waterborne route to transparent, hydrophobic, easy-clean, and abrasion-resistant coatings for automotive display applications.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -