POS5-1666
Simulation-Assisted Design of Transparent Photoresponsive Fluorinated Coating Films with Topographic Recovery for LiDAR Sensor Covers
When and Where
Nov 30, -0001
00:00 - 00:00
Presenter(s)
Jinho Kim (Yonsei university)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
LiDAR is a core perception technology for automated driving, making the optical integrity of its exposed sensor cover essential for reliable signal acquisition. However, combining near-infrared transparency, hydrophobicity, and damage-recovery capability within a single coating remains challenging. Here, a two-stage strategy integrating molecular design with reaction-informed molecular dynamics (MD) was used to develop a transparent fluorinated cinnamoyl coating for 940 nm LiDAR front covers. Systematic extension of the fluorinated spacer identified F16-Cin, a longer-spacer fluorinated dicinnamate developed in this work, as the component that best balanced hydrophobicity and optical transparency. F16-Cin was then combined with the previously reported nonfluorinated bis(cinnamate) DCE to regulate molecular packing and reactive-site abundance. MD analysis of the pre-irradiation environment relevant to cinnamoyl [2+2] photocycloaddition showed that the major increase in initial photoconversion up to FD40 was associated more closely with reactive-site density than with global fractional free volume, while further DCE incorporation produced diminishing gains. FD40 captured approximately 88 % of the conversion increase achieved up to FD90 while maintaining a water contact angle above 104 ° and a visible luminous transmittance above 91 %. FD40 exhibited a visible luminous transmittance of 90.95 %, a water contact angle of 104.77 °, 4H pencil hardness, and an 87.1–90.9 % reduction in spatially averaged scratch-height variation after an additional UV exposure of approximately 140 mJ cm⁻². Application to a polycarbonate front cover changed the 940 nm transmittance by only 0.07 percentage points while preserving LiDAR depth and return-intensity acquisition. These results establish a molecular-to-device strategy integrating fluorinated cinnamoyl design, reaction-informed computation, photo-induced topographic recovery, and direct sensor compatibility.
