Improved adhesion of PMSQ hard coatings on polymer substrates

Various surface treatment methods were investigated to improve the adhesion of abrasion-resistant polymethylsilsesquioxane (PMSQ) coatings on the optical resins. The adhesion of PMSQ films was improved on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), and PC/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) by pretreating their surface with O2 plasma or chromic acid followed by surface grafting with trimethyl ethoxysilane (TMES). After the O2 plasma and the subsequent TMES treatments, the adhesion of PMSQ coating on PMMA substrate was significantly enhanced by the reduction of the percentage of peeling area from ~100% to <1% in cross cut tests. After the chromic acid and the subsequent TMES treatments of PC and PC/ABS substrates, the adhesion of PMSQ coatings was also significantly enhanced by reducing the percentages of peeling areas from nearly 100% to 50% and <1%, respectively, for PC and PC/ABS. The PMSQ coating might increase the hardness of the polymer by two to three levels.