Nanotechnology application to automotive coating manufacturing

The last decade showed very fast growing of worldwide interest in nanotechnologies and nanomaterials. These trends can also be observed in high performance automotive coating formulations. Coating industry was one of the first branches that applied nanoscience and nanotechnology. Application of nanotechnology in organic coatings consists, mainly, in coating formulation using nanomaterials. Such obtained "nanocomposite coatings" consist of polymer matrix containing nano-scale particles. At this scale, properties of materials can be very different from those at a larger scale. Coating properties can be greatly affected by the size of filler particles; the smaller the filler particles the larger the effect. The effect of nanofillers depends on many factors, among others: chemical nature of nanofillers, their concentration and level of dispersion in the coating, as well as interaction between filler particles and organic matrix. Protective and decorative automotive coatings are exposed to the action of such factors as: ultraviolet radiation, erosive particles, humidity and heat. The presence of nanofillers allows increasing coatings resistance to these factors. Resistance to erosive wear and scratch are very important features of automotive clearcoats. Pigments which particles are smaller than the wavelength of visible light may be applied in formulations of such coatings to increase their phisico-chemical properties. Application of nanofillers to clearcoats requires complete dispersion of their particles in polymer matrix. Complete dispersion of nanofillers in polymer matrix enables preparation of high performance clearcoats showing high transparency and resistance to erosive wear and scratch. Alumina and silica nanoparticles are very often used in such applications. The paper presents literature review on nanofiller application in automotive coating formulations.