Recently, the Leibniz Institute for New Materials (Germany) announced that it has developed corn-based paint. This new corn-based paint is expected to fill scratches and swirl marks, which usually damage the clear coat of the outer layer of the paint if the vehicle encounters them, and the corn-based paint can be heated to create a flexible coating.
These corn-based lacquers are mainly derived from corn starch, which has what scientists call "nanomolecular" properties and contains cyclodextrin molecules.
The molecules can be threaded on the polymer molecular chain, which allows cyclodextrins to move freely along this chain. At the same time, they are not dislodged by the presence of other molecules. The self-healing ability of cyclodextrins comes from the fact that they cross-link with each other and become active through chemical reactions.
However, since all the molecules that need to work are hot, they need to be done at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Currently, scientists are able to reduce the repair time to one minute, or hours if it is a lower temperature to get the molecules moving.
However, this German company is not the first to enter the "self-healing coating" field. Last year, an Illinois-based company called Feinlab announced one of its self-healing coatings.
It is also formulated to work on painted surfaces and will fill in scratches if something breaks the bond of the coating.
There is no word on how much the German institute plans to charge for this lacquer, but it is working to find partners to commercialize its technology. In the meantime, the process costs about $2,500 at FeinLab.
