Project Description
Objectives:
- Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings are of interest to industry and are used to protect a substrate from aggressive external environment (impact, scratch or corrosion).
- Hauzer develops equipment to apply DLC coatings as a smooth and scratch resistant sub layer for decorative coatings on plastic housings, especially for the 3C (cameras, computer and communication) devices.
M2i project:
- Quantitative evaluation of adhesion, wear and hardness characteristics.
- Investigation of the relation between material properties (i.e. process settings) and system performance.
Industrial benefits:
- Fact-based development of hard and scratch-resistant decorative coatings on plastic housings.
- Application of sub layer and decorative top layer in one PVD coating system.
- The technology is protected by a patent application of Hauzer (DLC on plastics).
- First estimate: successful implementation generates an additional 10-15% annual sales of decorative PVD systems.