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Sustained Protection for Transparent Electrodes in Touch Panels and Smart Windows: Template Assisted Encapsulation of Fluorinated Silanes in Sol-Gel Silica Films for Sustained Hydrophobic-Oleophobic Functionality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2012

Aaron J. Kessman
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Elizabeth E. DeFusco
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Andrew W. Hoover
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Konstantinos A. Sierros
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Darran R. Cairns
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
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Abstract

Hydrophobic-oleophobic coatings are often used to provide the transparent electrodes in devices like touch panels and smart windows with protection from fingerprints and other contaminants which may degrade electronic and optical performance. Conventional fluorosilane monolayers or co-condensed films are often surface-enriched with fluorinated moieties due to the thermodynamic drive of these components to migrate to low-surface energy interfaces. Consequently, these conventional coatings may be strongly non-wetting and have low-surface energy when pristine, but upon wear and exposure of the bulk subsurface regions, the films are much less functional. This work explores the use of surfactant templated sol-gel silica films as scaffolds for encapsulating surface-segregating functional organic moieties as a mesoscopically dispersed phase with the goal of imparting sustained functionality. The results show that surfactant template concentration may be used to tune the dispersion of the fluorosilane-rich phase within the silica film in order to allow worn and exposed internal surfaces to maintain much of the original functionality of the pristine top surface.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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References

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