Process for preparing a polymeric relief structure

A photo-embossing process for the preparation of a polymeric relief structure comprising the steps of:

• a) coating a substrate with a coating composition comprising at least one radiation-sensitive component and less than 30 wt % of a polymeric binder material, wherein the coating composition has a transition temperature between 30° C. and 120° C. that defines a transition of the coating composition between a high viscosity state and low viscosity state;
• b) locally treating the composition coated onto the substrate at a temperature below a transition temperature thereof with electromagnetic radiation having a periodic, non-periodic or random radiation-intensity pattern thereby forming non-treated areas of the composition and treated areas of the composition corresponding to a latent image of the polymeric relief structure;
• and
• c) polymerizing and/or crosslinking the resulting radiation treated composition coated onto substrate at a temperature above the transition temperature thereof to thereby form a polymeric relief structure having an aspect ratio (AR) of at least 0.05 from the latent image thereof, wherein
• step a) includes incorporating into the coating composition hydrogen bonded reactive monomers comprising at least one radiation curable group as the at least one radiation sensitive component, wherein the hydrogen bonded reactive monomers form a supramolecular polymer at room temperature made out of repeating units that are held together by reversible non-covalent bonds, and are highly mobile at elevated temperature, and wherein
• the hydrogen bonded reactive monomers are selected from the group consisting of tri(hexylacrylate) benzenetricarboxamide, 1,3,5-Tris-(3,4,5-tridodecyloxybenzoylamino)benzene, 1,3,5-Tris[3,4,5-((S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)benzoylamino]benzene, N-(3,5-Bis-{3-[3,4,5-tris-((S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-phenyl]-ureido}-phenyl)-3,4,5-tridodecyloxy-benzamide, N-{3,5-Bis-[3-(3,4,5-tridodecyloxphenyl)-ureido]-phenyl}-3,4,5-tris-((S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-benzamide, 3,4,5-Tris-((S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-N-(3,5-dinitrophenyl)-benzamide, N-(3,5-Diamino-phenyl)-3,4,5-tridodecyloxy-benzamide and N-(3,5-Diamino-phenyl)-3,4,5-tris-((S)-3,7-dimethyloctyloxy)-benzamide.