Manufacturing of coatings is usually performed in order to improve mechanical, tribological or electrochemical properties of materials. For instance, especially in the case of bottles, a polymeric coating enhances the mechanical strength by closing the pre-existing cracks. A better solution is to use a composite coating: polymeric matrix and inorganic reinforcing particles. This paper addresses this problem. Firstly, composition and microstructure of two kinds of bulk composite materials are presented: either a mixture of a polymeric matrix (HEMA) and preformed silica particles (average diameter about 13nm), or a composite developed by in-situ polymerisation of HEMA and a silica precursor. In the second step, composition is optimised for coating, by addition of other polymeric components with specific properties and thermal treatment is carried out.
