Development of heat resistant, ultra-smooth uv curable alkyd primers for physical vapor deposition (PVD)

 
Physical vapor deposition (PVD) systems have been used in automotive parts such as a headlamps and a cosmetics containers to achieve mirror surface designs. When PVD is done directly on plastics, the mirror surface design is not achieved because of irregularities of the surface of the plastics. The smoothness of the plastic surface can be improved and final mirror effect greatly improved by applying a UV cured primer layer. In particular, the excellent heat resistance is required in the primer layer of the headlamp to withstand the radiant heat of it. In this paper, the design of an alkyd resin which has excellent heat resistance and surface smoothness will be reported. In addition, the development situation for water-borne alkyd resins suitable for this application will be introduced.