Industrial applications of sol–gel derived coatings

Sol–gel derived coatings have many practical applications in different industries. In this paper, HI-GARD(®) hard coat, multi-layer antireflective coatings, and an anti-glare coating with organic particles are described. Optical and mechanical performances of these coatings are discussed in addition to adhesion properties. The HI-GARD(®) hard coat was dip or spin coated from a sol by hydrolyzing alkoxysilanes with water in an acidic condition. The hard coat acts as a protective coating for optical lenses with excellent optical properties with a Bayer ratio of 4.8 and an adhesion of 5B. The multi-layer antireflective coatings were prepared by incorporating titanium oxide sol into the HI-GARD(®) hard coat solution to obtain different layers by spin-coating with tunable refractive index. These two-layer or three-layer antireflective coatings increase transmittance by at least 3% compared to an uncoated glass substrate. Anti-glare coatings were spray-coated at room temperature on glass substrates by embedding cationic or anionic polystyrene particles in an acid-hydrolyzed silane sol. The anti-glare coating with organic particles can provide a significant glare reduction with a haze value of up to 13% for display surface without sparkling. In addition to these transparent coatings, non-transparent sol–gel derived coatings such as a sol–gel non-stick coating for cookware and bakeware, and two zinc-silicate protective coatings hydrolyzed from a silane with addition of zinc dusts for corrosion protection are also discussed briefly. [Figure: see text]