Vacuum ultraviolet irradiation on siliceous coatings on polycarbonate substrates

We studied the effect of vacuum ultraviolet (vuv) irradiation on siliceous coatings of polycarbonate (PC) substrates derived by the sol–gel method, with the aim of improving the abrasion resistance of the substrate surface. Methyltriethoxysilane with colloidal silica was used to prepare the sol solution. The sol solution was spin-coated on PC and this was followed by vuv irradiation with a Xe excimer lamp at 172 nm under N₂ atmosphere. The PC substrate with vuv irradiated coating retained its high transmittance in the visible region for about 3 or more times of scraping turns by a steel wool tester on the surface, compared with the non-irradiated or mercury lamp-irradiated coatings, which demonstrated the remarkable improvement of the abrasion resistance by the vuv irradiation. The chemical changes under the vuv irradiation were also investigated by FTIR–ATR spectroscopy, composition analysis conducted with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and hardness measurements. It was concluded that the vuv light irradiation resulted in degrading the Si–CH₃ bond in sol–gel derived siliceous coatings to yield hardening of the coatings. The transmittance of the coating in vuv region also increased with the Xe lamp irradiation.