High-Performance Hard Coat for Cartridge-Free Blu-ray Disc

A practical way of realizing cartridge-free Blu-ray disc using nanocomposite UV-curable resin as a hard coat on a laser incident surface of the disc is described. The hard coat is a composite material of UV-curable acrylic resin and nanoparticles of silica. A lubricant that exhibits oil repellency as well as low friction coefficient was added to the hard coat in order to facilitate the removal of fingerprints. It effectively prevents abrasions, scratches and problems of fingerprints on the disc surface. Abrasion and scratch resistances, and ease of fingerprint removal were evaluated and compared with those of a polycarbonate surface and a conventional UV-curable hard coat.