Synthesis and characterization of optical sol–gel adhesive for military protective polycarbonate resin

Sol–gel adhesive material for isostatic hotpressing lamination process was synthesized using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTES), 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTS) and methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTS) as precursors. Reaction dynamics between APTES and GPTS was followed on-line with Raman spectroscopy. The lamination process was optimized by varying hotpressing times and pressures at the constant temperature. Mechanical shear strength properties were found to be excellent for studied composition, 25–30 kg/cm² at its best. One possible application of laminated polycarbonate (PC) structure is a soldier helmet visor. Therefore, the ballistic protection properties were tested by shooting with 1.1 gram standard fragment, and determining the v₅₀ velocity value, which corresponds to 50% perforation. The laminated structure gave 5.7% better protection compared with the solid polycarbonate. The laminated components were found to have high optical transparency at the visible wavelengths as well as high environmental stability.