Injection molding and characterization of microtextures on polycarbonate using laser textured inserts

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the easy manufacturing and quick characterization of several microtextured functional surfaces on two transparent thermoplastics of general interest for several industrial sectors. Microtextured polymeric surfaces with special optical, tribological and easy-cleaning properties were manufactured via isothermal injection-molding using laser-microtextured steel mold inserts. For that purpose, conventional injection molding of two chosen amorphous transparent polymers (polycarbonate, PC, and polymethyl methacrylate, PMMA) utilizing laser-microtextured steel inserts was carried out, and a detailed morphological and functional characterization of the injected specimens was conducted later on. We also report on the suitable process conditions for the injection molding of these specimens using design of experiment (DOE) techniques. The analysis of the degree of replication (DR%) on the injected samples shows that mold temperature and injection speed are the most relevant parameters to obtain a successful replication and confirm the viability of conventional injection molding as a processing technique to obtain microtextured functional surfaces in amorphous transparent thermoplastics. The success of the procedure is further checked by the confirmation of the obtained surface functionalities by various standard and self-developed methods.