Moisture Condensation Management in Automotive Headlamp Using Super Hydrophilic Cross-Linked Polymer Composites

This work aims to develop potential super hydrophilic cross-linked smart polymer composites and condensation management device (CMD) for condensation control in automotive headlamps. Condensation and moisture buildup in the automotive headlamp decrease the visibility to the driver. The super hydrophilic cross-linked polymer composites were prepared with the combination of polyacrylamide-based hydrogels and hygroscopic lithium bromide desiccants. In this work, we have utilized various desiccants such as calcium chloride (Desiccant-1), silica gel (Desiccant-2) and lithium bromide (Desiccant-3) which is blended together with the polyacrylamide-based hydrogel. The prepared various compositional smart materials have been analyzed for structural, morphological, thermal and functional properties using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), optical microscopy (POM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and water uptake capacity. The developed super hydrophilic cross-linked polymer composites were kept into the designed condensation device and placed into the headlamp assembly. The effective composite composition showed 70-80 % water absorption after 24 h. The various composition of the composites was prepared and experiment were carried out. By using 50-70 % of super moisture absorber material into the polymer matrix higher rate of water absorption is achieved. The prepared super hydrophilic cross-linked polymer composites showed potential water absorption which can be useful for condensation management in headlamps.