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Automotive coatings are high-tech products. They give the body a brilliant,
long-lasting and resistant exterior, and come in a wide range of colors and
effects. BASF Coatings’ latest advance is a clearcoat that offers even better
protection as the top layer finish.
Extensive research went into this technology, in particular to ensure
greater long-term scratch resistance. “The iGloss clearcoat provides long-term
scratch resistance,” says Dr. Andreas Poppe. After the preliminary studies of
Dr. Matthijs Groenewolt, Dr. Poppe was responsible for the development of
iGloss all the way through to market readiness.
“Over time, iGloss provides substantially better protection against
micro-scratches, such as those caused by automated car washes. This means car
owners can now enjoy that new-car shine for many more years.”
Hybrid material
The development concept was to combine the advantages of inorganic ‘hard’
materials with those of organic ‘soft’ materials, effectively balancing out
their respective disadvantages in the process.
The resulting hybrid material delivers scratch resistance, but without the
brittleness of glass, for example. The new BASF solution involves a lattice
structure of glass-like silicon clusters that enhance scratch resistance.
This structure additionally features modified segments that optimize elastic
recovery, i.e. its ability to return to the same shape once an applied stress
or load is removed. “Our research efforts achieved this property fairly early
on,” recalls Dr. Winfried Kreis, head of Applied Coatings Research at BASF
Coatings.
“The challenge was to make a paint that was both scratch-resistant and
weather-resistant at the same time. This combination had proven unfeasible in
past scratch-resistance development efforts.” BASF Coatings’ iGloss delivers
the best of both worlds.
These innovative properties were obtained without any sacrifices with regard
to other key clearcoat properties. iGloss thus retains its scratch resistance
in the long-term, even if exposed to extremely adverse weather conditions,
evidences only a minimal tendency to run and is highly resistant to chemicals,
protecting the shine significantly longer.
No compromises were made with the new paint in terms of environmental
compatibility, nor with process compatibility, as iGloss requires no
significant changes to the car makers’ current painting processes.
“iGloss is furthermore designed as an all-in-one package for line coating,
painting parts and touch-up work,” explains Dr. Joachim Woltering, head of the
BASF Coatings Clearcoat Competence Center, “We will now be introducing the
advantages of this technological improvement to the automobile industry.”
 An entire series of pilot applications, weathering
tests and extensive risk analyses conducted based on the two-component paint
system employed in the premium segment have already yielded excellent
results.
Dr. Woltering: “We believe the first vehicles finished with this new coating
technology will soon be going on the market.”
(Picture: gettyimages)
And quite a few innovations originally developed for the premium segment,
like ABS and ESP, have found their way into other vehicle classes.
This will likely soon be the case for the new clearcoat now available..
www.basf-coatings.com
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