Synthesis and characterization of UV-curable dual hybrid oligomers based on epoxy acrylate containing pendant alkoxysilane groups

This work involves the synthesis of novel hybrid oligomers based on a UV-curable epoxy acrylate resin (EA). The EA resin was modified with various amount of 3-isocyanatopropyl trimethoxysilane (IPTMS) coupling agent. The modification percentage of the hybrid oligomer was varied from 0 to 50 wt.%. UV-curable, hard and transparent organic–inorganic hybrid coatings were prepared on Plexiglas substrates and their characterization was performed by the analyses of various properties such as hardness, gloss, tape adhesion test and stress–strain test. Results from the mechanical measurements show that the properties of hybrid coatings improve with the increase in modification ratio. The thermal behavior of coatings was also evaluated. It is observed that the thermal stability of epoxy acrylate coatings is enhanced with incorporation of siloxane. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses showed that the initial weight loss obtained in thermogravimetric analysis is due to the degradation products of the photoinitator and the acrylic acid moiety of acrylic monomers.