Study the Effect of Coating Thickness from Silica Nanocomposite Deposited on Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Sheets via Spray Coating Technique

The development of hard coating based on colloidal silica nanoparticles on polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheet was reported. The colloidal silica was surface-modified with methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) and formulated to hard coating solution via sol-gel process. The hard coating solution was applied to PMMA surface by spray deposition technique. Spraying process was carried out from spray nozzle outlet diameter of 0.35 mm and air compress pressure at 0.2 MPa with nozzle to substrate distance at 10 cm. The different coating thicknesses were obtained by adjusting the amount of coating applied. The optimal coating thickness that gives the highest pencil-hardness at 7H and 100% adhesion for adhesion tape test is 10 μm.