Surface properties of coatings on automotive thermoformable films for easy-cleaning and anti-staining applications

 
The automotive industry is increasingly looking towards functional and aesthetically innovative solutions that promote and enhance a clean, intuitive, and safe man-machine interactivity. Currently, most of the vehicles are equipped with a single touchscreen being very susceptible to the accumulation of dirt and stains. For this reason, there is an increasing interest in the development of anti-stain and dirt-repellent technologies to keep surfaces clean and free from contamination. iDOURECA is developing a three-dimensional automotive interior part with functional and decorative thermoformable films. On this scope, the correlation between the results obtained from surface analytical characterization (such as surface energy and liquid contact angles) with the actual performance of the coated thermoformable films is being explored and investigated. This work was developed in the scope of iDOURECA (n.45113), which was co-financed by Portugal 2020, under the Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020) through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).