Scratch resistant tough nanocomposite epoxy coatings based on hyperbranched polyesters

Advanced multifunctional coatings were prepared by UV curing of epoxy based formulations containing hyperbranched polymers (HBP) and an epoxy functionalized alkoxysilane additive. The addition of HBP to the UV curable epoxy resin induced an important flexibilization of the glassy epoxy network with an increase in toughness of the cured polymeric coatings. Adding the functionalized alkoxysilane into the UV curable formulations, as inorganic precursor of silica phase, an improvement on surface hardness was obtained without strongly affecting the flexibilization and the toughness achieved by the addition of the HBP additive. The increase on surface hardness was accompanied with an increase in scratch resistance and modulus. Advanced scratch resistant and tough nanocomposite epoxy coatings were obtained by properly selecting the components of the formulation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.