Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has announced it will license its ‘Scratch Shield’ paint to NTT DoCoMo, Inc. for mobile phone application in Japan. The self-healing paint, currently applied to certain Nissan and Infiniti vehicles worldwide, was developed in collaboration with University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc.
The Scratch Shield, a world first in paint technology, was commercially introduced in December 2005. The Scratch Shield paint self-heals fine scratches and is capable of restoring the vehicles’s paint surfaces overnight, or up to a week’s time in more severe cases. The Scratch Shield paint is also more scratch-resistant than conventional paint, therefore contributing to a more durable and long-lasting paint coat.
The self-repairing quality is due to a high-elasticity resin in the paint. Nissan says a car painted with Scratch Shield will have five times less number of scratches compared with a vehicle painted with a conventional clearcoat. The amount of time required for self-repair depends on the surrounding temperature and the depth of the scratch. The paint does not self-repair if scratches are deep enough to sever the bonds within the clearcoat or if the clearcoat has been peeled off.
However, the unique self-heal quality of the paint has attracted the interest of NTT DoCoMo, Inc., who say the technology is ideal for mobile phone application, which is susceptible to scratches over daily use. NTT DoCoMo, Inc. will license the Scratch Shield technology for its mobile phones to be introduced in Japan, which will be a value-add feature for customers.
Nissan has been licensing its unique technologies for various non-automotive applications since 2004. Other technologies that have been licenced include the around-view monitor and far infrared image sensor. Nissan will continue to research and develop breakthrough tehcnologies that can benefit other industries, and promote these non-automotive applications globally.
Source: Nissan
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