One of the least-understood detailing products is the ceramic coating. What is a ceramic coating? A lot of people know what they do, but when you try to nail down what exactly these coatings are, terms like “nanostructure” and “ceramic nanoparticles” are thrown around without even knowing what they really mean. So let’s take a step back and start defining these concepts.
Polymer vs. Ceramic
A coating’s nanostructure is the result of a heat-induced chemical bonding reaction. This chemical reaction bonds the coating to the clear coat, and in doing so forms a billionths-of-a-meter-thick protective matrix or web (hence the term nano). It’s kind of like when you iron on a patch to a shirt; the heat from the iron reacts with the adhesive to make the patch stick. Only in this case, the coating is chemically fusing with the surface rather than just sticking to it.
Now that we’ve established what a nanostructure is, what are the actual building blocks of the coating nanostructure? Well, it depends on whether the coating is truly ceramic or not.
Polymer-based Coating Nanostructures
The vast majority of “ceramic” coatings available to consumers are only ceramic in the loosest sense of the word. These coatings’ nanostructures are made from polymers, not ceramics. The only ceramic components here are the nanoparticles suspended within the polymers.
You may recall the word “polymer” in reference to sealants and synthetic waxes, and that’s exactly what we’re dealing with here. So at the end of the day, all you’re really getting is a sealant with some SiO2 particles thrown in, not a genuine ceramic product. It’s kind of like a hybrid car vs. an electric: better than gas-only, but not ideal.
As a consequence of only being partially ceramic, these coatings don’t hold up well against their fully ceramic brethren. They’re not very durable, only lasting a year or so. They’re not especially scratch resistant. And their hydrophobicity is so-so, exhibiting high sliding angles and low contact angles. The only real upside is that they’re cheap.
Ceramic-based Coating Nanostructures
True ceramic coatings tend to be sold to professionals only, but some (like Dr. Beasley’s coating systems) are available to the general public. With these coatings, we’re not just talking about a few ceramic nanoparticles sprinkled into the nanostructure. We’re talking about a nanostructure made entirely out of ceramic material.
These ceramic-based coatings start out as something called “preceramic polymers”. When the chemical bonding reaction occurs, these polymers convert into a fully ceramic nanostructure. Being entirely ceramic gives these nanostructures a whole host of amazing benefits not seen elsewhere:
- Improved hydrophobicity: Ceramic nanostructures can reproduce nanotextures engineered for superhydrophobicity, drastically lowering sliding angle and increasing contact angle.
- Permanent durability: Being made of fully inorganic, ceramic material, ceramic-based nanostructures don’t naturally degrade, requiring sustained heavy abrasion to be removed.
- Improved scratch resistance: Being entirely ceramic, these nanostructures are extremely hard and far more scratch resistant than their relatively soft polymer-based cousins.
New: Flexible Nanostructures
True ceramic coatings aren’t perfect, though. That hardness we mentioned above has a couple drawbacks. For one, it makes the coating brittle, so it’s still susceptible to scratches. Second, it makes it so the coating can’t flex with the body panels underneath, which causes the nanostructure to crack under the pressure. So how do you get past these limitations? Dr. Beasley’s has found a way.
Dr. Beasley’s Nano-Resin Pro and Matte Paint Coating Pro coatings aren’t made from preceramic polymers. Instead, they’re made from preceramic elastomers. This results in ceramic nanotubes with remarkable flexibility. Flexibility dramatically improves scratch resistance over hard coatings—instead of breaking when abraded, the nanotubes absorb the blow.
This same flexibility also allows them to self-heal. Rather than permanently deforming when scratched, the elastic nanotubes can actually resume their original shape! It’s like squeezing a stress ball—it bounces back. That same elasticity also keeps the coating firmly bonded with the underlying clear coat. That way, when body panels flex with temperature changes or high speeds, the coating flexes along with them.
To recap: most so-called “ceramic” coatings are nothing more than polymer sealants with ceramic nanoparticles thrown in. True ceramic nanocoatings, like Dr. Beasley’s, have nanostructures made entirely from ceramic. And now, some coatings like Dr. Beasley’s Nano-Resin Pro are nanoconstructed from elastomer-derived ceramics, so they can flex and self-heal.
Featured products:
- Dr. Beasley’s Coating Systems
- Dr. Beasley’s Nano-Resin Pro Kit
- Dr. Beasley’s Matte Paint Coating Pro Kit
WANT MORE?
Stay up-to-date with the latest in detailing knowledge by signing up for our e-mails.
The post Explaining Nanostructures appeared first on .
