LAUSR

Abstract This study is aimed to develop UV-curable hybrid sol–gel coating in order to improve the surface properties of polystyrene (PS) against chemical degradation problem. First, hybrid sol-gels were synthesized using TEOS, VTMS, C2H5OH, distilled water, 1 M HCl, 1 M NH4OH, TiO2 and inorganic (Al2O3, SnO2, ZrO2) and organic (Tetrahydrofuran (THF)-C4H8O) chemicals. Second, the synthesized hybrid sol-gels were coated on the surface of PS plates using an applicator and pre-treated at −80 °C for 24 h and the coated plates were cured under UV light at 40 °C for 1 h. The original PS plates and coated PS plates were subjected to a yellowing test for 26 h. Third, colour (CM-2600d. Konica Minolta Optics Inc. Japan) and gloss (Multi Gloss 268 Plus. Konica Minolta Optics Inc. Japan) measurements, hardness (TroniC–Hildebrand Shore D), FT-IR (Perkin Elmer Spectrum 100 model FTIR spectrometer), SEM (SEM-ZEISS Supra 40 V P), TGA (TGA, Setaram Labsysevo model), AFM (AEP-Nanomap-500LS) and contact angle (KSV0 CAM 200) analyses of the original and UV-cured hybrid sol gel-coated PS plates were performed before and after the yellowing test. As a result, it was observed that the surface properties of the PS plates coated with the hybrid sol-gel prepared using C4H8O organic compound of 0.5 g improved significantly.