A Cr Anti-Sticking Layer for Improving Mold Release Quality in Electrochemical Replication of PVC Optical Molds
College of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Key Laboratory of Energy Cleaning Utilization, Development, Cleaning Combustion and Energy Utilization Research Center of Fujian Province, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, China
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Micromachines 2019, 10(10), 702; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10100702
Received: 12 September 2019
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Revised: 10 October 2019
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Accepted: 12 October 2019
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Published: 15 October 2019
This paper addresses the issue of mold release quality in an electrochemical replication of an optical polyvinyl chloride (PVC) mold, which has microlens array or microprisms array on its surface. The main idea is to deposit a nanoscale Cr thin layer as an antisticking layer on the PVC mold surface, followed by Ag film deposition as the conductive layer using magnetron sputtering, and finally, a nickel layer is electrochemically deposited on the Ag surface. By doing so, the upripping of the nickel mold from the PVC mold becomes easier, resulting in better mold release quality. The experiment results showed that when the Cr antisticking layer was used, the release strength between the nickel mold and the PVC substrate reduced from 1.94 N/cm to 1.43 N/cm, the surface roughness of the PVC substrate after mold release reduced from 0.60 μm to 0.55 μm, the surface roughness of the nickel mold reduced from 0.63 μm to 0.49 μm, the retroreflection coefficient of the nickel mold increased from 1600 cd·lx−1·m−2 to 2100 cd·lx−1·m−2, and the surface energy of the PVC substrate reduced from 31.47 mN/m to 15.53 mN/m.
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Keywords:
optical thin films; magnetron sputtering; nanoscale antisticking layer; release strength; surface roughness
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MDPI and ACS Style
Li, Y.; Yang, G.; Wu, Q.; Cheng, J.; Hu, Z. A Cr Anti-Sticking Layer for Improving Mold Release Quality in Electrochemical Replication of PVC Optical Molds. Micromachines 2019, 10, 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10100702
AMA Style
Li Y, Yang G, Wu Q, Cheng J, Hu Z. A Cr Anti-Sticking Layer for Improving Mold Release Quality in Electrochemical Replication of PVC Optical Molds. Micromachines. 2019; 10(10):702. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10100702
Chicago/Turabian StyleLi, Yue, Guang Yang, Qihui Wu, Jun Cheng, and Zhichao Hu. 2019. "A Cr Anti-Sticking Layer for Improving Mold Release Quality in Electrochemical Replication of PVC Optical Molds" Micromachines 10, no. 10: 702. https://doi.org/10.3390/mi10100702
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