The Evolution of Car Paints

In the automotive refinishing industry, the role of paint has evolved over the years.

Without going into too much detail, today the protective function is considered just as important as the aesthetic appearance. This is understandable: we use our cars for many, many years, and we want the paint to retain its aesthetic and protective qualities throughout that time.

On the other hand, the sheer number of available colors and types of coatings can be a headache (in the formulation databases for refinishing paints, this number has long since exceeded 120,000). The technology for producing automotive paints is highly advanced. Until recently, the greatest achievement in improving environmental protection was the development of products with a high solids content and water-based products.

Recently, we’ve seen many vehicles on the streets coated with matte paints—this is one of the latest trends that gives a vehicle a unique character and makes it stand out from the crowd. Selecting the right matting agents allows us to achieve a coating with a micro-rough surface, which scatters light to create a matte effect.

To see this roughness of the coating, we need to use an electron microscope. We don’t have to worry about scratch resistance or cleaning and maintenance—they are on the same level as what we know from high-gloss paints.

The technology behind paint manufacturing is now firmly rooted in the world of nanotechnology; what until recently belonged to the realm of science fiction is now a reality. Paints are now manufactured at the level of particle arrangement. This intervention in the nanoworld allows for the achievement of remarkable properties—not only protective but also aesthetic.

Certainly, when it comes to automotive paints, there is much to say about color trends. Here, a change occurs every year. However, for years, black has been at the forefront of colors—specifically, a deep black with a very intense hue. In this case, the depth of color is related to the size of the pigment particles used.

A large portion of the black paints available on the market use pigment particles approximately 100 nm in size, which is 600 times thinner than a human hair.

We have successfully developed a production technology in which we use particles 10 times smaller than those mentioned. The result is our new product, JetBlack. It is a base coat with incredible depth. We can top it with a clear matte finish—following the trend—or a high-gloss finish.

Special pigments—so-called cool pigments—are also appearing on the market, which we can use to produce a coating that reflects light rather than absorbing it, thereby preventing the vehicle from overheating. Thanks to such additives, we can not only reduce vehicle operating costs (by limiting the use of air conditioning) but also extend the lifespan of the paint coating.