Process for reclaiming inorganic powders from polymer-based coating compositions

A process of recovering an inorganic powder material from a polymer-based coating composition, the process comprising:

• combining at least a polymer precursor, a first solvent, and the inorganic powder material to form a suspension of the polymer-based coating composition;
• applying the suspension to a substrate so that a first portion of the suspension adheres to the substrate and forms a layer on the substrate;
• treating the layer to remove the first solvent, cure the polymer precursor, and form therefrom a coating comprising particles of the inorganic powder material dispersed in a polymer binder formed by curing the polymer precursor, the polymer binder and the substrate being substantially insoluble in the first solvent;
• collecting a second portion of the suspension that did not adhere to the substrate, the second portion of the suspension comprising residual portions of each the first solvent, the inorganic powder material, and the polymer precursor and further comprising a partially-cured polymer precursor formed from the polymer precursor undergoing polymerization during the applying step;
• removing at least some of the residual portions of each the first solvent and the polymer precursor dissolved therein to yield a crude inorganic powder material comprising the residual portion of each the inorganic powder material and the partially-cured polymer precursor;
• and
• treating the crude inorganic powder material with a second solvent in which the partially-cured polymer precursor is soluble to dissolve at least a portion of the partially-cured polymer precursor material.

A process of fabricating a component of a light-emitting device, the process comprising:

• combining at least a polymer precursor, a first solvent, and an inorganic powder material to form a suspension of a polymer-based coating composition;
• applying the suspension to a substrate of the component so that a first portion of the suspension adheres to the substrate and forms a layer on the substrate;
• treating the layer to remove the first solvent, cure the polymer precursor, and form therefrom a coating on a surface of the substrate, the coating comprising particles of the inorganic powder material dispersed in a polymer binder formed by curing the polymer precursor, the polymer binder and the substrate being substantially insoluble in the first solvent;
• collecting a second portion of the suspension that did not adhere to the substrate, the second portion of the suspension comprising residual portions of each the first solvent, the inorganic powder material, and the polymer precursor and further comprising a partially-cured polymer precursor formed from the polymer precursor undergoing polymerization during the applying step;
• removing the residual portions of each the first solvent and the polymer precursor dissolved therein to yield a crude inorganic powder material comprising the residual portion of each the inorganic powder material and the partially-cured polymer precursor;
• treating the crude inorganic powder material with a second solvent in which the partially-cured polymer precursor is soluble to dissolve at least a portion of the partially-cured polymer precursor;
• removing the second solvent and the partially-cured polymer precursor dissolved therein from the crude inorganic powder material;
• and
• optionally repeating the step of treating with the second solvent and removing the second solvent to yield essentially the residual portion of the inorganic powder material.