Improvement of Performance of Anti-reflective Coating Film Using Methyltrimethoxysilane

Traditional anti-reflective (AR) coating films prepared using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor absorbs water easily in addition to having a weak abrasion resistance. To improve the transmittance, hydrophobicity and abrasion resistance of AR coating film, various AR coating films were prepared using methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) as a precursor in addition to in- troducing a fluoroalkylsilane, acid catalyst, base catalyst and acid-base two step catalyst. The prepared AR coating films were then characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, contact angle analyzer, atomic force microscope (AFM), pencil scratch hardness test and cross-cut test. As a result, the transmittance of bare glass was 90.5%, while that of AR coating glass increased to 94.8% at curing temperature of 300 ℃. When the fluoroalkylsilane was added, the water contact angle of AR coating film increased from 96.3° to 108°, indicating that the hydrophobicity of the film was greatly improved. The abrasion resistance of AR coating film was also improved by the acid catalyst, whereas the transmittance increased by the base catalyst. In the case of AR coating film prepared using an acid-base two step catalyzed reaction, both the transmittance and abrasion resistance of the film was synergistically enhanced as compared with those of AR coating films prepared without introduction of a catalyst.