Nanotechnology for Coating in Transportation Vehicles: An Overview of Its Development

At nanoscale, the surface area to volume ratio increases and therefore more atoms are exposed to the surface thereby making surface properties more dominant than the properties of the bulk material. As a result chemical reactivity and unique material attributes are introduced. These enhanced properties help in resistance against oxidation, mechanical abrasions, corrosions and high temperature. Recently, nanotechnology has been extensively applied in the transportation vehicles industry to bring novel functionalities and improve vehicle performance. The coating with nanoparticles is an effective practice to enhance the protection and scratch resistance of automotive bodies. The study revealed that the additions of nano-SiO2 in the polymer coating could enhance the abrasion and scratch resistance, hardness and strength. Moreover, some nanoparticles such as SiC, ZrO2, ZnO, Al2O3, and TiO2 were also used for the enhancement of the coating properties. Some of the evaluations showed that the modified epoxy-polyurethane with nanosilica coatings indicated higher erosive wear resistance than the unmodified and modified epoxy-polyurethane with nanoalumina. The research also indicated that the nanoparticles inside the coating layer filled the pores and suppressed the development of cracks over the time interval. The selection of the optimum proportions of nanoparticles in coatings is essential to enhance the strength and durability of the coatings over a longer period. In addition, to reduce the glass scratch problems of automobiles, nanomaterials can be embedded in polycarbonate polymeric glass by using polysiloxane or acrylate paints over automobile headlights. In the automotive clear coat, an organic matrix can be added using a sol-gel technique to enhance the scratch resistant.