Hybrid organic-inorganic silicate/thiol-ene photocured coatings

Hybrid organic-inorganic photocured systems based on thiol-ene chemistry were prepared by dispersing different silicates, sepiolite fibers and lamellar kaolin, up to a content of 7 wt.% in a thiol-ene system. The addition of the silicate filler in the range of 1-7 wt.% did not significantly influence the photocurable process inducing a slight increase on Tg and E' values. On the other hand, the addition of the silicate filler resulted in an increase on surface hardness with increasing particle content. We can conclude that the presence of silicates leads to an excellent effect of reinforcement of the surface hardness of the thiol-ene nanostructured coatings. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.