Abstract
Transparent conductive films (TCFs) have received much research attention in the area of aeronautical canopies. However, bad wear, corrosion resistance and weak erosion performance of TCFs dramatically limit their scalable application in the next-generation aeronautical and optoelectronic devices. To address these drawbacks, three types of optically transparent coatings, including acrylic, silicone and polyurethane (PU) coatings were developed and comparatively investigated ex situ in terms of Taber abrasion, nanoindentation and sand erosion tests to improve the wear-resistance and sand erosion abilities of ITO-coated PMMA substrates. To elucidate the sand erosion failure of the coatings, the nanoindentation technique was employed for quantitative assessment of the shape recovery abilities under probe indentation. Results show that the PU topcoats can greatly enhance the sand erosion properties, which were superior to those of acrylic and silicone topcoats. This result can be attributed to the good toughness and self-healing properties of PU topcoats. Additionally, high hardness and good Taber abrasion properties of the ITO films and silicone topcoats did not have an obvious or affirmatory effect on the sand erosion abilities, based on their brittleness and irreparable properties under sand erosion.
Highlights
Transparent conductive films (TCFs), based on their relatively low electrical conductivity and high optical transmittance, are widely used in numerous fields, such as optoelectronic devices [1,2,3], heatable layers in defrosting windows [4,5] and electromagnetic shielding and radar stealth in the aeronautical industry [6,7]
This study aims to achieve transparent topcoats with good mechanical and strong anticorrosive performance to protect the indium tin oxide (ITO) films deposited on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates
Uncovered ITO films deposited on PMMA substrates had good abrasion resistance based on its high hardness, and the haze of uncovered ITO films increased from 0.5% to 7% after 500 oscillations, which was similar to that of the silicone and PU topcoats
Summary
Transparent conductive films (TCFs), based on their relatively low electrical conductivity and high optical transmittance, are widely used in numerous fields, such as optoelectronic devices (smart windows, displays, etc.) [1,2,3], heatable layers in defrosting windows [4,5] and electromagnetic shielding and radar stealth in the aeronautical industry [6,7]. Among many TCF materials, the investigations of amorphous transparent conductive oxide films, such as conventional indium tin oxide (ITO) and amorphous indium zinc oxide (In2O3-ZnO, IZO) films [8,9], which are deposited on the polyester substrates, have received much attention, especially in the area of canopies in the aeronautical industry. Conductive films, such as ITO and IZO, have numerous drawbacks such as bad wear, corrosion resistance and weak erosion performance [10,11,12,13], which can dramatically limit their large-scale application in the next-generation aeronautical and optoelectronic devices. The assessment of the electrical and mechanical properties of organic coatings on ITOcoated polyester substrates is critical to the safe use and service life evaluation of ITO films
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