A novel method to control inner and outer haze of an anti-glare film by surface modification of light-scattering particles

Anti-glare films with various inner haze and outer haze were fabricated by a novel and simple method to modify the surface of the light-scattering particles via an acid or base treatment. The mechanism of formation of the inner and outer haze was investigated by the morphology of the AG coating layer. When the solvent evaporated, the treated light-scattering particles easily aggregated in the AG coating layer, increasing the outer haze and decreasing the inner haze. XPS analysis revealed that this result may have resulted from partial removal of the stabilizers on the light-scattering particles by the acid or base treatment. In this study, we demonstrated that the ratio of outer haze to inner haze varied from 0.32 to 3.14 with the same relative composition of particle, resin, and solvent in the AG coating; this ratio could be controlled by adjusting the proportion of untreated particles to treated particles.

Graphical abstractSchematic representation of the inner haze and the outer haze of the AG coating layer during drying process.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (60 K)Download as PowerPoint slideResearch highlights► AG films were fabricated by light-scattering particles with surface modification. ► Ratio of outer haze to inner haze is controllable from 0.32 to 3.14. ► Reduction of PVP fraction results in the increase of large-size colonies.