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Clear coat paint gets a great deal of the credit for that nice shiny paint on your new vehicle. Clear coat is just what it sounds like, a layer of clear paint applied over the coloured paint. It was originally developed and used to help prevent damage from corrosive industrialized air.

There have been a number of side benefits that have been enhanced over the years beyond protection. That added layer of protection works not only for keeping nasty chemical off the paint; it provides a minuscule bumper to help reduce damage caused by minor nicks and scrapes.

Often, marks left by such damage can be buffed out without harming the colour coat beneath, preventing the need for more costly repairs at a body shop.

Paint suppliers are constantly battling to stay ahead of the curve, to have the product car companies "must have."

In the ultra-competitive world of supplying vehicle manufacturers the market is massive. Just stop and think of the numbers -- a major body shop would paint hundreds and perhaps thousands of vehicles a year. It would be a major client for any supplier. But a manufacturer paints millions of vehicles a year.

So the search for improvements in cost or product is constant. Staying ahead of the curve on colours is one issue. Paint suppliers have to research, follow and even predict fashion trends. They have to know and have available the "hot" colours even before they are popular.

But the scientists at these companies also have to stay abreast of developments that pertain to their product out there real world. This can apply to everything from the application of their product at the factory, making sure it does not endanger workers, to knowing about new air-borne chemicals that may damage paint.

The folks at PPG Industries, one of the largest paint suppliers for the auto industry, recently came up with a new clear coat paint they are calling "CeramiClear," which incorporates nanoparticles. These little pieces enable the new paint to offer what PPG calls "the highest level of scratch resistance among any of our commercial clear coats."

So what is a nanoparticle? Think small, really small. As the computer industry kept seeking ways to cram more digital information on to a computer chip, scientists began manipulating individual atoms and molecules. They came up with nanotechnology, a new area of scientific research and development.

To put this in perspective, a micrometer is one thousandth of a millimetre, but a nanoparticle is 1,000 times smaller again. Nanoparticles, also known as dendrimers, are tiny spheres whose width is ten thousand times smaller than the thickness of a human hair.

PPG scientists say the difficulty was in dispersing and stabilizing these little dudes in what is already a pretty slim material - a coat of paint.

Its proprietary process includes a "binder modification that imparts surface activity, while allowing for a high, cross-link density." In other words, it goes on easily, requiring no change in the traditional painting process.

CeramiClear has been tested extensively in the laboratory, surviving hundreds of automated washes using a special abrasive cleaning solution as well as a dry abrasive test using very fine sandpaper. It has been tested in the field on more than 150 vehicles throughout the world over several years.

After four years of research and development in conjunction with Mercedes, the new scratch-resistant top coat is being used on several 2005 Mercedes model lines and will make its way throughout the Mercedes line throughout the year.

rrussell@globeandmail.ca