Anti-fingerprint glass surface created by mechanical removal process

Abstract

The use of various types of information devices equipped with touch panels has been increasing. When these devices are used directly with fingers, the devices become dirty owing to sweat and oil from users. Therefore, there is considerable interest in keeping the surfaces of devices free from fingerprints and dirt. Antifouling films and coatings are being developed for this purpose. In addition, a method of changing the surface shape by adding a microstructure to a material surface has been developed. The purpose of this study is to add the antifouling function to glass surfaces using a mechanical removal process. We attempted to change the surface shape by processing a material surface directly. The processing method was microslurry-jet (MSJ) processing, which is a mechanical removal method. In addition, a masking process was used to create microsurface structures. As an example, we evaluated the anti-fingerprint glass created by these processing methods. Microsurfaces were successfully created on the glass surface through the combination of the masking process and MSJ processing. Moreover, the visibility of the created glass, surface characteristics, friction characteristics, and the adhesion of stains were evaluated. With respect to visibility, surface characteristics, and adhesion, it was possible to observe the changes in surface characteristics due to the microsurfaces. With regard to friction characteristics, differences in surface patterns were found for individual subject data. In addition, a method of changing the surface shape by adding a microstructure to the material surface has been developed (Jheng and Lee, 2016; Saito et al., 2008; Tokuhisa et al., 2017). Microsurface structures are created by a chemical removal process by etching or removal by laser processing (Clavería et al., 2019). However, such chemical removal processing is limited by materials because chemical solutions are used (Saito et al., 2008). Laser processing removes a surface with a strong force. As a result, the surface becomes rough and the substrate becomes damaged, and this affects touch. This study has explored a processing method that can solve these problems. Microslurry-jet (MSJ) processing, which is a mechanical removal method, was considered because it can be applied to numerous materials, it can be processed on the order of nanometers in the vertical direction, and it provides a continuous curved surface after processing (Nakanishi et al., 2018; Yin et al., 2018). In addition, a masking process was used to create microsurface structures. Glass was used as the material in this study. Glass is a brittle material, and it is broken, scratched, or easily soiled during mechanical removal. It was shown that these problems can be addressed, and the anti-fingerprint glass produced using the above processing method was evaluated.