Fabrication of High-Performance Cationic UV Curable Cycloaliphatic Epoxy/Silicone Hybrid Coatings

A series of cycloaliphatic epoxy acrylate prepolymer poly (METHB-co-MMA-co-BA) (MMB) and an epoxycyclohexyl-modified polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-VCH) are prepared to fabricate hybrid coatings. The curing process, surface performance, mechanical properties, and thermal behavior are investigated by real-time Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), contact angle measurements, tensile test, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). For the same photoinitiator (PI) concentration, both the epoxy value and the amount of PDMS-VCH negatively affect the UV-curing process. The contact angle of hybrid coatings increases by almost 12 degrees with 4 wt% PDMS-VCH's addition. The increasing ratio of soft acrylate segment can strengthen the toughness of materials markedly. Besides, thermal stability is enhanced with the increasing of epoxy value, while slight changes are found with the addition of PDMS-VCH. Based on these properties, the hybrid coatings can be applied in various fields, including protection, decoration, and other displayed fields.