1. A method for fabricating an alignment layer for a liquid crystal display comprising:
coating an alignment agent on a substrate;
arranging a nano pattern mold with a groove and a protrusion to contact the alignment agent;
pre-curing the alignment agent;
separating the nano pattern mold from the alignment agent; and
hard-curing the alignment agent separated from the nano pattern mold to form an alignment layer.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the alignment agent is thermosetting alignment agent.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the thermosetting alignment agent is thermosetting polyimide.
4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the thermosetting alignment agent contains a solvent in an amount of 90 to 98%, based on total weight thereof.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the alignment agent is 100 to 300 nm.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the groove of the nano pattern mold has a depth of 10 to 100 nm, and the protrusion of the nano pattern mold has a pitch of 100 to 1,000 nm.
7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the nano pattern mold is in the form of a square or sine wave.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of pre-curing comprises:
allowing the nano pattern mold and the alignment agent to be kept at ambient temperature and pressure for 0 to 20 minutes, while the nano pattern mold contacts the alignment agent; and
pre-curing the alignment agent in contact with the nano pattern mold on a hot plate at a temperature of 100\xb0 to 120\xb0 for 1 to 20 minutes.
9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the alignment agent comprises a protrusion pattern reverse-transcribed from the groove of the nano pattern mold, and a groove pattern reverse-transcribed from the protrusion of the nano pattern mold.
10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the hard-curing is carried out in a baking oven at a temperature of 230\xb0 to 250\xb0 for 15 to 120 minutes.
11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the nano pattern mold is made of a hydrophobic thermosetting rubber polymer having a contact angle of 100\xb0 to 120\xb0.
12. An apparatus for fabricating an alignment layer for liquid crystal displays, comprising:
a coating device to coat an alignment agent on a substrate;
a nano pattern mold having a groove and a protrusion which is allowed to contact the alignment agent;
a hot plate to pre-cure the alignment agent; and
a baking oven to hard-cure the alignment agent separated from the nano pattern mold to form an alignment layer.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the alignment agent is coated to a thickness of 100 to 300 nm on the substrate.
14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the groove of the nano pattern mold has a depth of 10 to 100 nm, and the protrusion of the nano pattern mold has a pitch of 100 to 1,000 nm.
15. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the nano pattern mold is in the form of a square or sine wave.
16. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the step of pre-curing comprises:
allowing the nano pattern mold and the alignment agent to be kept at ambient temperature and pressure for 0 to 20 minutes, while the nano pattern mold contacts the alignment agent; and
pre-curing the alignment agent in contact with the nano pattern mold on a hot plate at 100\xb0 to 120\xb0 for 1 to 20 minutes.
17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the alignment agent comprises a protrusion pattern reverse-transcribed from the groove of the nano pattern mold, and a groove pattern reverse-transcribed from the protrusion of the nano pattern mold.
18. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the hard-curing is carried out in a baking oven at a temperature of 230\xb0 to 250\xb0 for 15 to 120 minutes.
19. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the nano pattern mold is made of a hydrophobic thermosetting rubber polymer having a contact angle of 100\xb0 to 120\xb0.
20. A liquid crystal panel, comprising at least one alignment layer fabricated by the method according to claim 1.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of reducing acetaldehyde production in a polyester, the method comprising:
(a) selecting a polyester which includes less than 25 ppm antimony moieties;
(b) selecting an acetaldehyde scavenger which includes an amine moiety, an amide moiety, and a substituted phenyl moiety;
(c) selecting a phosphorus additive, said additive being selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, polyphosphonic acid, carboxyphosphoric acids, phosphoric acid derivatives, acid salts and acidic esters of the aforesaid, and hypophosphite salts; and
(d) contacting the polyester which has an IV of greater than 0.5 dLg with said acetaldehyde scavenger and with said phosphorus additive.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein in step (d), polyester is contacted with at least 5 ppm and less than 1000 ppm of acetaldehyde scavenger per part of polyester; and is contacted with at least 15 ppm and less than 500 ppm of phosphorus additive per part of polyester.
3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the ppm of said selected acetaldehyde scavenger to the ppm of said selected phosphorus additive is in the range 0.5 to 25.
4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of the ppm of said selected acetaldehyde scavenger to the ppm of said selected phosphorus additive is in the range 1 to 5000.
5. A method according to claim 1, wherein a mixture comprising said acetaldehyde scavenger, said phosphorus additive and a polyester compatible organic liquid carrier is selected prior to step (d) and the mixture is contacted with the polyester in step (d).
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said acetaldehyde scavenger is selected from the group consisting of:
1,2-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)ethane; 1,2-bis(2aminobenzamidoyl)propane; 1,3-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)propane; 1,3-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)pentane; 1,5-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)hexane; 1,6-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)hexane; 1,2-bis(2-aminobenzamidoyl)cyclohexane; and scavengers which include component molecular fragments derived from anthranilamide.
7. A method according to claim 1, wherein said phosphorus additive is selected from the group consisting of: phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, and hypophosphite salts.
8. A method according to claim 1, wherein said phosphorus additive is phosphoric acid.
9. A method according to claim 1, wherein said polyester includes less than 25 ppm of germanium moieties.
10. A method according to claim 1, wherein said polyester includes at least 2 ppm of titanium moieties; and less than 25 ppm of titanium moieties.
11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said polyester includes at least 2 ppm of aluminium moieties; and less than 150 ppm of aluminium moieties.
12. A method of reducing acetaldehyde production in a polyester, the method comprising:
(a) selecting an acetaldehyde scavenger which includes an amine moiety, an amide moiety, and a substituted phenyl moiety;
(b) selecting a phosphorus additive, being an additive comprising a phosphorus moiety; and
(c) contacting the polyester which has an IV of greater than 0.5 with said acetaldehyde scavenger and with said phosphorus additive;
wherein said polyester comprises the following after step (c): polyethylene terephthalate having less than 25 ppm antimony moieties, less than 25 ppm germanium moieties, at least 5 ppm of a catalytic residue selected from a titanium-based or aluminium-based catalyst, an acetaldehyde scavenger which comprises anthranilamide and a phosphorus additive selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, and hypophosphite salts.
13. A method according to claim 1, which comprises forming said polyester into a container or preform for a container, after step (d).
14. A method according to claim 1, wherein said phosphorous additive is selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, and hypophosphite salts.
15. A method according to claim 1, wherein said acetaldehyde scavenger comprises anthranilamide.
16. A method according to claim 15, wherein said phosphorous additive is phosphoric acid.
17. A method of reducing acetaldehyde production in a polyester, the method comprising:
(a) selecting an acetaldehyde scavenger which includes an amine moiety, an amide moiety, and a substituted phenyl moiety;
(b) selecting a phosphorus additive, being an additive comprising a phosphorus moiety; and
(c) contacting the polyester which has an IV of greater than 0.5 dLg with said acetaldehyde scavenger and with said phosphorus additive;
wherein, after step (c), there is provided polyethylene terephthalate having less than 25 ppm antimony moieties, less than 25 ppm germanium moieties, at least 5 ppm of a catalytic residue selected from a titanium-based or aluminium-based catalyst, an acetaldehyde scavenger which comprises anthranilamide and a phosphorus additive selected from the group consisting of phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, and hypophosphite salts.
18. A method according to claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises contacting the polyester with a liquid formulation comprising said phosphorous additive and said acetaldehyde scavenger, wherein the sum of the wt % of acetaldehyde scavenger and phosphorus additive in said formulation is less than 60% wt % and said sum is at least 3 wt %, wherein said acetaldehyde scavenger is anthranilamide and said phosphorous additive is phosphoric acid.
19. A method according to claim 1, wherein the polyester contacted with said acetaldehyde scavenger and phosphorous additive in step (d) is a solid polyester which is present substantially in the absence of monomers used in preparation of the polyester.
20. A method of reducing acetaldehyde production in a polyester, the method comprising:
(a) selecting a polyester which includes less than 25 ppm of antimony moieties and less than 100 ppm of germanium moieties, less than 25 ppm of titanium moieties;
and less than 150 ppm of aluminium moieties;
(b) selecting an acetaldehyde scavenger which comprises anthranilamide;
(c) selecting a phosphorus additive which is phosphoric acid;
(d) contacting the polyester which has an IV of greater than 0.5 dLg with said acetaldehyde scavenger and with said phosphorus additive, wherein:
(i) in step (d), polyester is contacted with at least 5 ppm and less than 1000 ppm of acetaldehyde scavenger per part of polyester; and is contacted with at least 15ppm and less than 500ppm of phosphorus additive per part of polyester; and
(ii) the ratio of the ppm of said selected acetaldehyde scavenger to the ppm of said selected phosphorus additive is in the range 0.5 to 25; and
(iii) the ratio of the ppm of said selected acetaldehyde scavenger to the ppm of said selected phosphorus additive is in the range 1 to 5000; and
(iv) a mixture comprising said acetaldehyde scavenger, said phosphorus additive and a polyester compatible organic liquid carrier is selected prior to step (c) and the mixture is contacted with the polyester in step (c);
(e) forming said polyester into a container or preform for a container, after step (d).
21. A method according to claim 12, wherein said acetaldehyde scavenger comprises anthranilamide.
22. A method according to claim 17, wherein said acetaldehyde scavenger comprises anthranilamide.