SBIR-STTR Award

An estimated 90% of all eye injuries are avoidable with the use of proper safety eye protection. Our long-term goal is to increase the compliance in the use of safety glasses with lenses that are more durable, easier to clean, and more scratch and impact resistance than is currently available. Our work indicates that a well-designed multi-layer coating with a lubricous topcoat can greatly increase scratch resistance without degrading the impact resistance of the plastic substrate. This hypothesis is based on our discovery that: 1) the lubricious topcoat will cause particles to glide off rather that gouge the surface resulting in a 10-fold increase in scratch resistance, and 2) all currently available scratch resistant coatings for lenses degrade impact resistance. Our specific aims are to utilize this discovery to increase the scratch resistance of the coating using the lubricious topcoat while modifying the underlying layers to prevent crack propagation into the plastic substrate. The proposed coating will allow the production of safety glasses and ophthalmic lenses with a combination of scratch and impact resistance far better than any currently on the market. This coating technology will be of great benefit to eyewear users in the $330 million eye protection market and the $15.8 billion eyewear market. If successful, this work would have widespread applicability in additional plastic applications where optical clarity, scratch resistance, and impact resistance are key requirements.

Thesaurus Terms:
eye injury, injury prevention, nonbiomedical equipment, physical property, safety equipment, surface coating, technology /technique development vision aid

It has been estimated that 90% of all eye injuries could have been avoided if proper safety eyewear had been used. Despite widespread required use of safety eyewear in the work place, there continues to be a significant reluctance among workers to comply because of discomfort and the inability to see clearly due to scratches. Commercially available scratch resistant coatings (Hardcoats') do help to a degree but they also significantly decrease the impact resistance of the polycarbonate substrate. Compared to commercially available Hardcoats, TriboFilm's Phase I feasibility study has demonstrated clearly that a well designed multilayered scratch resistant coating comprised of a tougher and less brittle Base Coat and an anchored lubricious TopCoat produces a 10-fold increase in scratch resistance without affecting the impact resistance of polycarbonate. Based on the developments in the Phase I feasibility study, this Phase II proposal is aimed at process optimization and scale-up along with a series of intensive testing to evaluate the performance and durability of the Multilayered SR coating. The proposed coating will allow the production of safety glasses and ophthalmic lenses with a combination of scratch and impact resistance far better than any currently on the market. This coating technology will be of great benefit to eyewear users in the $330 million eye protection market and the $15.8 billion eyewear market. If successful, this work would have widespread applicability in additional plastic applications where optical clarity, scratch resistance, and impact resistance are key requirements.

Thesaurus Terms:
biomaterial development /preparation, biomaterial evaluation, plastic, safety equipment, surface coating, vision aid injury prevention, user protection bioengineering /biomedical engineering, biotechnology