Consumables

Innovative NANOBYK additives enhance the scratch resistance of clearcoats through immediate reflow effect

Thursday 27. November 2008 - BYK has extended its portfolio with two new nano silica additives: NANOBYK- 3651 and NANOBYK- 3652. Together with the already well-established NANOBYK- 3650, these new additives mean BYK can offer its customers a complete product family covering systems from low to high polarity.

According to conventional notions, a surface cannot be both elastic and hard at the same time. However, it is now possible to formulate solvent-based clearcoats that combine these properties thanks to the new NANOBYK products.

Traditionally, surface protection has been improved by increasing the hardness, but this can produce undesired side effects such as brittleness and lower chemical resistance.
Innovative additives based on nanotechnology are now opening up new possibilities for achieving optimal surface protection through the immediate reflow effect. This effect ensures that the coating is not damaged and remains virtually unscathed when subjected to conditions that would usually result in scratches.

The nano silica particles of the NANOBYK- 3650 product family are uniformly distributed within the coating and work like a shock absorber system. Their interaction absorbs the impact energy and releases it slowly to avoid damaging the coating. The coating gains in elasticity while retaining the same level of hardness, thus offering the best long-term protection.
BYK recommends NANOBYK- 3651 and NANOBYK- 3652 for industrial, wood and furniture coatings as well as for automotive and auto refinish coatings.