The character of black color

It is difficult to define color as “perfectly black”, because its perception also depends on the recipient. Looking at a black car body, we are aware that its color is influenced by many factors, such as the primer or the paint used for the finish. Surfaces with a deep black and durable car body color are not easy to achieve.

Black is a universal color because it goes perfectly with other colors. This versatility and elegance of the dark color has not only entered the canon of automotive design, but also fashion, as evidenced by the immortal phrase “little black dress”. Despite passing trends, black is still one of the most popular colors for newly purchased cars. Despite the difficulty of keeping a dark color clean, a well-maintained black car body always has a positive effect on the aesthetic value of even an unattractive car.

Perfectly black?

Many companies are conducting extensive research into deep and true black. A few years ago, a product made of nanotubes called Vantablack was introduced. Its extraordinary property was the absorption of almost 100% of the incident light. This product was used to mask satellites by NASA and to paint spy planes. When looking at a surface covered with this material, we are unable to see shadows, which the eye perceives as a flat surface. Unfortunately, the material is not a paint or pigment, but a special coating made of nanotubes with a size of 20 nanometers.

In nature, you can find patterns of saturated black color, such as tar or soot.

The “blackest black” of car paint?

The depth of color is not without significance, and for car users it begins to play a special role in attracting the attention of other drivers. That is why car paint manufacturers have been working for many years to achieve a shade that is perceived as more intense, deeper, “blackest”. First and foremost, it is important to choose the right base. The best solution is a dark-colored primer, and ideally it should also be black.

Recently, a new product from Multichem Sealer has been launched, which can be colored as desired, and adding it to the old paint will result in a faster color change, e.g. to the desired black. When choosing a base, we can choose from many shades of black, and companies usually have a wide range of ready-made black colors in their offer. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not yet able to create the kind of black that Vantablack achieves, but thanks to extensive research by color laboratories, saturated, “lush” variations of black are being achieved.

Two products from the Profix brand are worth mentioning here. One is Black Plus, which is a more saturated black. Its color spectrum is shifted towards dark blue, making it appear as an intense black. The second product aimed at people who want to achieve a stunning color is JetBlack. This product utilizes the experience gained by previous generations – for centuries, soot was used in the production of black pigments because it was cheap and widely available.

By constantly developing pigment production methods, the focus has been on obtaining the smallest possible particle size of the pigment from which the varnish is made. For example, a large proportion of the black varnishes available on the market have pigment particles of around 100 nm, which is 600 times thinner than a human hair. The smaller the particle size, the larger the surface area that can absorb visible light.

Multichem has succeeded in reducing the particle size of black pigment to almost 10 times smaller than the most popular black paints on the market. This type of pigment was used to produce the JetBlack base coat, giving it an incredibly intense color depth. The color of the coating is so intense that it catches the attention of other drivers on the road.

The final step to achieve a satisfactory result is to choose a high-quality clear coat to make the surface shiny and scratch-resistant. Recently, a new trend has emerged, which is the matte effect, which is achieved by using matte paints (e.g. CM10 by Profix). Unfortunately, by choosing a matte surface, we also accept a much weaker effect of the depth of the black color.

In conclusion, it can be said that current technology has not yet created a perfectly black coating that absorbs 100% of the light. Nevertheless, manufacturers will strive for this, considering that black paint will always remain versatile and elegant.