JPH09124344A - Production of water repellent light transmitting material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a light transmitting material having a thin water repellent film hardly sticking flaws. SOLUTION: A molecule having hydrophobic groups is adsorbed on a surface of a light transmitting substrate A of a plate glass or a synthetic resin plate. The molecule adsorbed is preferably a silicone compound having methyl or ethyl groups such as tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane or heptamethyltrisloxane. The ion bombardment of the light transmitting substrate A with argon is carried out in a glow discharge in a vacuum vessel 1 and the glow discharge is then stopped to introduce a gas of a silicone compound 3 having the hydrophobic groups into the vacuum vessel 1. Thereby, an adsorbed layer of the silicone compound 3 is formed on the surface of the light transmitting substrate A.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transparent material of glass or synthetic resin used as a window material for vehicles such as automobiles, trains, and ships, or as a window material for buildings and a lens for eyeglasses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of translucent material is hydrophilic and rains,
Since water drops adhere to the surface due to fog and the like and the visibility is deteriorated, wax is applied to the surface of the translucent material to make it water repellent.

[0003]

When wax is applied, the adhesion of the coating film to the light-transmitting material is poor, and the water-repellent effect is not sustained. In order to solve this drawback, we considered a method of forming a water-repellent thin film on the surface of the translucent material by plasma polymerization of a monomer gas of fluorine, but the plasma polymerization film is thick and easily scratched. In the spectacle lens and the like that it has, the entire film thickness is increased by superimposing the thin film on the antireflection film, so that the optical constant is changed and the antireflection effect is lost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a light-transmitting material having a thin water-repellent thin film which is hard to be scratched.

[0005]

In the present invention, a molecule having a hydrophobic group is adsorbed in vacuum on the surface of a transparent substrate of a plate glass or a synthetic resin plate to achieve the above object. did. A silicon compound having a hydrophobic group such as a methyl group or an ethyl group such as tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, or heptamethyltrisiloxane is used as the molecule to be adsorbed. After ion bombardment of argon in the glow discharge in the inside, the glow discharge is stopped and a gas of a silicon compound having a hydrophobic group is introduced into the vacuum chamber, and an adsorption layer of the silicon compound is passed through the transparent layer. It is preferably formed on the surface of the material.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As the translucent base material in the present invention, transparent or translucent plate glass, spectacle lens or synthetic resin plate is used, and the translucent base material is vacuumed as shown in FIG. Molecules having a hydrophobic group are adsorbed on the surface of the light-transmitting base material in a device. The vacuum device includes a vacuum exhaust port 2 connected to a vacuum pump 9, a silicon compound introduction pipe 12 connected to a container 4 containing a silicon compound 3 having a hydrophobic group via a valve 5 and an argon gas source via a valve 7. A high-frequency power source 6 is placed in a vacuum chamber 1 equipped with a continuous argon gas introduction pipe 8.
The electrode plate 10 connected to the
Is provided.

A transparent substrate A such as a glass plate, a synthetic resin plate, or a lens for eyeglasses is placed on the electrode plate 10, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is exhausted from the vacuum exhaust port 2 to, for example, 10 ^-2 Pa or less. The inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated, the valve 7 is adjusted, and argon gas is introduced to bring the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 to 1 Pa. When a high frequency of 13.56 MHz, for example, is applied from the high frequency power source 6 in this state, a glow discharge is generated between the electrodes 10 and 11, and the ions generated by the ionization of the argon gas ion bombard the surface of the transparent base material A. To clean. The glow discharge is, for example, about 6
After the surface is continuously cleaned for 0 seconds, the application of high frequency to the electrode is stopped, the valve 7 is closed and the vacuum exhaust is stopped at the same time, and the valve 5 is opened to open the gas of the silicon compound 3 having a hydrophobic group, for example, tetramethyl. Cyclotetrasiloxane gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 1 until the pressure reaches 200 Pa. About 2
By maintaining 00 Pa for a short time of, for example, about 10 seconds, the clean surface of the light-transmissive substrate A adsorbs the compound 3 to form an adsorption layer.

The thickness of the adsorption layer is only about 10Å in the molecular order, and the contact angle of water with the surface is 11
It was about 4 °. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the part where the adsorption layer is in contact with the surface of the translucent base material A is mainly made of -Si-O-Si-O- which has good adhesion to the base material A such as plate glass. Since it is composed of chains and has a structure in which the methyl group is exposed to the outside of the surface, it has sufficient water repellency. Since the adsorption layer is extremely thin, the entire film thickness is hardly changed even if the film is laminated on the antireflection film of the spectacle lens, so that the optical constant is hardly changed and the antireflection effect is not impaired. Since the adsorption layer is adsorbed on the surface of the light-transmissive substrate A that has been subjected to ion bombardment, it adheres extremely strongly, is thin and has good adhesiveness, and can maintain the water-repellent effect for a long time.

As the silicon compound 3 having a hydrophobic group,
In addition to the above tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, a silicon compound gas having a methyl group or an ethyl group such as octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane or heptamethyltrisiloxane can be used. The contact angle of water when the adsorption layer of tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane gas was formed on the surface of the plate glass was 114 °, the contact angle when the adsorption layer of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane gas was formed was 113 °, and heptamethyltrisiloxane. The contact angle when the gas adsorption layer was formed was 117 °.

[0010]

EXAMPLE A transparent glass substrate A having a thickness of 3 mm was placed on an electrode plate 10 of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 was set to 10 ⁻² Pa.
Argon gas is introduced from the argon gas introduction pipe 8 to 1 Pa, and a high frequency of 13.56 MHz is applied to the electrode plate 10 and the counter electrode 11 from the power source 6 by applying argon gas to the surface of the translucent substrate A by ion bombardment. A glow discharge was generated for 60 seconds in order to clean it. After that, the prepared tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane gas was introduced into the container 4 until the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 reached 200 Pa, and the state was adjusted to 1
This was continued for 0 seconds to form an adsorption layer of tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane on the surface of the translucent substrate A. The transparent base material A was taken out of the vacuum chamber 1, and the contact angle of water on the surface thereof was examined and found to be 114 °. The thickness of the adsorption layer was 10Å and the adhesion to the substrate was examined by the high temperature and high humidity exposure test method (60 ° C, 95% relative humidity for 1 month). The sex was good.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, molecules having a hydrophobic group are adsorbed in vacuum on the surface of a light-transmissive base material of a plate glass or a synthetic resin plate , so that the optical constant is not changed. It is possible to form a thin adsorption layer for molecules with hydrophobic groups, which has good water repellency and durability, and is adsorbed on the antireflection film to have a water repellent effect without impairing the antireflection function. It has the effect of being able to

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a suction state on the surface of the transparent substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

A translucent substrate, 1 vacuum chamber, 3 silicon compound having hydrophobic group, 6 high frequency power supply, 10 electrode plate,

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing a water-repellent light-transmitting material, which comprises adsorbing a molecule having a hydrophobic group on a surface of a light-transmitting base material of a plate glass or a synthetic resin plate in a vacuum. 2. The molecule to be adsorbed is a silicon compound having a methyl group or an ethyl group, such as tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane, or heptamethyltrisiloxane. A method for producing the water-repellent translucent material described. 3. A transparent substrate made of a plate glass or a synthetic resin plate is subjected to argon ion bombardment during glow discharge in a vacuum chamber, then the glow discharge is stopped, and silicon having a hydrophobic group in the vacuum chamber. A method for producing a water-repellent light-transmitting material, comprising introducing a compound gas and forming an adsorption layer of the silicon compound on the surface of the light-transmitting substrate.