An organic-inorganic hybrid polymeric nanocomposite has been synthesized for making UV-curable hard coats. This nanocomposite consists of nano-sized colloidal silica functionalized with vinyltriethoxysilane (VTES) and dendritic acrylic oligomers (DAO) which have been formed earlier via a reaction of ethylenediamine (EDA) with trimethylopropane triacrylate (TMPTA). Applied as a hard coat on top of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, this nanocomposite has a short UV-cure time and the cured coat has an enhanced thermal decomposition temperature (T-d), 89-90% transparency, increased hardness up to 3H, better adhesion up to 413, and a flat surface with a root mean square roughness of 2-4 nm. The preparation as well as the characterization of the constituting species and the final hybrid are described in detail. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.