Characterization of mechanical degradation in perfluoropolyether film for its application on anti-fingerprint coating
Journal
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Date
2018.10.09
Abstract
Enhancing mechanical durability of the anti-fingerprint film is critical for its industrial application on touch-screen devices to withstand friction damage from repeated rubbing in daily usage. With reactive molecular dynamics simulations, we herein implement the adhesion, mechanical, and deposition test to investigate two durability-determining factors: intrachain and interchain strength, which affects the structural stability of the anti-fingerprint film (perfluoropolyether) on silica. From the intrachain perspective, it is found that Si-C bond in the polymer chain is the weakest thereby prone to be dissociated and potentially forms C-O bond. This behavior is demonstrated consistently regardless of different amount of crosslinking density between polymer chains. For the interchain interaction, increasing the chain length enhances the mechanical properties of the film. Furthermore, the chain deposition test, mimicking the experimental coating process, demonstrates that placing shorter chains first to the surface of silica then depositing longer chains is an ideal way to improve the interchain interaction in the film structure. The current study reveals a clear pathway of optimizing the configuration of the polymer chain as well as its film structure to prolong the product life of the coated anti-fingerprint film.