Provided is a barrier film, comprising: a base layer; and an inorganic layer including a first region and a second region, which have different elemental contents (atomic %) of Si, N, and O from each other as measured by XPS, and having a compactness expressed through an etching rate of 0.17 nm/s or less in the thickness direction for an Ar ion etching condition to etch Ta.sub.2O.sub.5 at a rate of 0.09 nm/s, wherein the second region has a higher elemental content of N than that of the first region, the first region has a thickness of 50 nm or more, and the ratio (d1/d2) of the thickness (d1) of the first region to the thickness (d2) of the second region is 2 or less, the barrier film having excellent barrier properties and optical properties. The barrier film can be used for electronic products sensitive to moisture or the like.

Provided is a barrier film, comprising: a base layer; and an inorganic layer including Si, N, and O, wherein the inorganic layer has a thickness of 600 nm or less, and the film has a water vapor transmission rate of 0.5?10.sup.?3 g/m.sup.2.Math.day as measured under conditions of a temperature of 38? C. and 100% relative humidity. The barrier film has excellent barrier properties and optical properties and can be used for electronic products sensitive to moisture.

Provided is a barrier film, comprising a base layer and an inorganic layer including a first region and a second region, which have different elemental contents (atomic %) of Si, N, and O from each other as measured by XPS, and having a compactness expressed through an etching rate of 0.17 nm/s in the thickness direction for an Ar ion etching condition to etch Ta.sub.2O.sub.5 at a rate of 0.09 nm/s, wherein the second region has a higher elemental content of N than that of the first region, and the second region has a thickness of 10% or more relative to the total thickness of the inorganic layer. The barrier film has excellent barrier properties and optical properties and can be used for electronic products which are sensitive to moisture and the like.

A variety of pet related products are provided formed initially of plastic and finalized with a metallized surface finish. The pet product is molded using injection molding, rotational molding, vacuum forming, blow molding, compression molding, thermoforming or other plastic forming techniques that can provide a structure having a shape that cannot be readily or economically shaped by metal stamping or other conventional metalworking method. The semi finished plastic part is then subjected to a metallizing process in an individualized non-contiguous manner, where a thin metallic layer is deposited on at least one of the product surfaces. The resultant pet product item simulates the appearance metal, and may provide the durability, cleanability and the general antimicrobial nature resulting metal surfaces.

Functionalized textile materials are provided. At least a portion of a textile surface in includes a ceramic material, such as a binderless porous structured ceramic, and optionally, one or more functional layer is applied, resulting in a textile material with one or more desirable functional properties, such as hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, flame retardancy, photocatalysis, anti-fouling, and/or deodorant properties.

A heat shielding material and method for manufacturing thereof is provided. The method for manufacturing the heat shielding material, includes: providing a tungsten oxide precursor solution containing a group VIIIB metal element; drying the tungsten oxide precursor solution to form a dried tungsten oxide precursor; and subjecting the dried tungsten oxide precursor to a reducing gas at a temperature of 100 C. to 500 C. to form a composite tungsten oxide. The heat shielding material includes composite tungsten oxide doped with a group I A or II A metal and halogen, represented by M.sub.xWO.sub.y or M.sub.xWO.sub.yA.sub.z, wherein M refers to at least one of a group I A or II A metal, W refers to tungsten, O refers to oxygen, and A refers to a halogen element. The heat shielding material also includes a group VIIIB metal element.

A method for preparing a sol-gel film is disclosed. The method comprises providing a sol-gel composition comprising one or more sol-gel film precursors and a crystallization aid, and processing the sol-gel composition by solution processing to form the sol-gel film. In certain embodiments, the sol-gel film comprises one or more metal oxides. A preferred crystallization aid includes triphenylphosphine oxide. A composition for making a sol-gel film, a sol-gel film, a device including a sol-gel film and a method for making such device are also disclosed.

The present invention realizes a polymer substrate with hard coating layer comprising a high level of environmental resistance and a high level of abrasion resistance. A polymer substrate with hard coating layer is provided that comprises a polymer substrate (60) having a thickness of 1 mm to 20 mm and a hard coating layer (70,80) on the surface thereof. Here, in this polymer substrate with hard coating layer, the hard coating layer (70,80) is laminated on the surface of the polymer substrate, contains as a main component thereof a hydrolysis-condensation product of an organic silicon compound, has a thickness of 0.1 m to 20 m, makes direct contact with a cured underlayer on the opposite side of the polymer substrate, is formed from an organic silicon compound by PE-CVD, and satisfies all of the following requirements (a) to (c): (a) film thickness of the silicon oxide layer is within the range of 3.5 m to 9.0 m, (b) maximum indentation depth of the surface of the silicon oxide layer as determined by measuring nanoindentation under conditions of a maximum load of 1 mN is 150 nm or less, and (c) the value of critical compression ratio K of the silicon oxide layer, as defined by formula (1) in a 3-point bending test of the polymer substrate with hard coating layer that imparts indentation displacement in which the surface laminated with the silicon oxide layer becomes concave, is 0.975 or less.

The present invention realizes a polymer substrate with hard coating layer comprising a high level of environmental resistance and a high level of abrasion resistance.

A polymer substrate with hard coating layer is provided that comprises a polymer substrate (60) having a thickness of 1 mm to 20 mm and a hard coating layer (70,80) on the surface thereof. Here, in this polymer substrate with hard coating layer, the hard coating layer (70,80) is laminated on the surface of the polymer substrate, contains as a main component thereof a hydrolysis-condensation product of an organic silicon compound, has a thickness of 0.1 m to 20 m, makes direct contact with a cured underlayer on the opposite side of the polymer substrate, is formed from an organic silicon compound by PE-CVD, and satisfies all of the following requirements (a) to (c): (a) film thickness of the silicon oxide layer is within the range of 3.5 m to 9.0 m, (b) maximum indentation depth of the surface of the silicon oxide layer as determined by measuring nanoindentation under conditions of a maximum load of 1 mN is 150 nm or less, and (c) the value of critical compression ratio K of the silicon oxide layer, as defined by formula (1) in a 3-point bending test of the polymer substrate with hard coating layer that imparts indentation displacement in which the surface laminated with the silicon oxide layer becomes concave, is 0.975 or less.

A method for manufacturing zinc oxide films according to the present invention includes: a step (Step 1) for mixing zinc salt, aqueous ammonia, and organic acid to prepare a source solution containing a zinc ammine complex; a step (Step 2) for depositing a zinc oxide film on a substrate using the source solution by a liquid phase deposition method; and a step (Step 3) for irradiating the deposited zinc oxide film with UV light to remove the organic acid from the deposited zinc oxide film. The present invention can provide a method for manufacturing zinc oxide films that can simplify a device configuration of a manufacturing device.