Journal of Materials Science, Vol.35, No.19, 4809-4814, 2000
The effects of drying, aging and curing on an organic -inorganic coating
The effects of drying, aging and curing on an organic -inorganic coating deposited on float glass substrates were analyzed. Methyltrimethoxysilane was used to immobilize parts of the network connections and silica particles were used as seeds for the nucleation of the gel structure. The coating was produced under acidic conditions to enhance the hydrolysis reaction. The coatings were deposited using a spin-coating technique. The dependence of the elastic modulus, hardness, fracture toughness and residual stress obtained by indentation on the preparation conditions is reported. In addition results obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), X-ray Photon Spectroscopy (XPS) and Infrared-Spectroscopy are analyzed.