Synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid polymeric nanocomposites for the hard coat application

An organic–inorganic hybrid polymeric nanocomposite has been synthesized for making UV‐curable hard coats. This nanocomposite consists of nano‐sized colloidal silica functionalized with vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) and dendritic acrylic oligomers (DAO) which have been formed earlier via a reaction of ethylenediamine (EDA) with trimethylopropane triacrylate (TMPTA). Applied as a hard coat on top of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, this nanocomposite has a short UV‐cure time and the cured coat has an enhanced thermal decomposition temperature (Td), 89–90% transparency, increased hardness up to 3H, better adhesion up to 4B, and a flat surface with a root mean square roughness of 2–4 nm. The preparation as well as the characterization of the constituting species and the final hybrid are described in detail. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 3985–3993, 2007