Superhydrophobic, antireflective, flexible hard coatings with mechanically ultra-resilient moth-eye structure for foldable displays

Abstract

Biomimetic inspiration from the moth-eye structure has led to many studies combining nanoimprint lithography (NIL) to realize low cost and large area anti-reflection (AR) coatings. However, the scope of application is severely limited by poor mechanical performance due to the intrinsic properties of the coating materials and the nanosized patterns. In this work, we demonstrate a moth-eye structured epoxy-siloxane molecular hybrid (ME-ESMH) fabricated using single UV-based NIL (UV-NIL) on a colorless polyimide (CPI), to be utilized as a flexible cover window (FCW) for foldable displays. Low reflection, a superhydrophobicity and good inward foldability were achieved, together with excellent thermal and chemical resistance. Furthermore, in situ uniaxial compression tests revealed that the fabricated structure can be elastically deformed and nearly restored to its original shape even after a large degree of compression. Our findings provide an easy-to-integrate solution for flexible hard coatings with superhydrophobic and AR properties, applicable to foldable optoelectronics.