KCC Develops High-Performance Mobility Coating Materials with Chemical Research Institute

Development and Commercialization of Automotive Coatings Incorporating Transparent Self-Healing Coating Material Technology Activated by Sunlight

Kim Beom-seong, Head of KCC Central Research Institute (third from the left), and Lee Mi-hye, Director of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (fourth from the left), along with other officials, are taking a commemorative photo. [Photo by KCC]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jonghwa] KCC is developing next-generation functional automotive coatings suitable for the mobility era in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT).

On the 6th, KCC and KRICT held a signing ceremony for a "Next-Generation Mobility Functional Coating Material Technology Cooperation Agreement" at the KRICT conference room in Daejeon, attended by Kim Beomseong, Head of KCC Central Research Institute, Lee Mihye, President of KRICT, and other officials from both sides.

Through this agreement, KCC plans to combine KRICT's elemental technologies, such as the "transparent coating material technology capable of self-healing under sunlight," with KCC's unique automotive coating technology to develop and commercialize next-generation functional coating materials (coatings) for mobility.

When a car is coated with a material possessing self-healing functionality, scratches disappear by exposing the surface to midday sunlight for more than 30 minutes. When sunlight is absorbed by the material, light energy converts into heat energy, raising the surface temperature. This causes polymers to undergo dynamic chemical bonding by repeatedly breaking and reforming their original network structure, enabling self-healing.

By integrating this elemental technology with automotive coating technology, high-performance automotive coatings can be developed, and the use of organic solvents during automotive repainting can be reduced, contributing to carbon neutrality.

The "Mobility" era emphasizes not only transportation but also smartness, safety, and convenience. Along with the joint development of automotive coatings incorporating this self-healing technology, future plans include integrating elemental technologies such as self-cleaning and low-energy curing with coating technology to create products suitable for the next-generation eco-friendly and autonomous mobility market.

Lee Mihye, President of KRICT, expressed, "By combining the functional coating material core technologies accumulated over the past decade at KRICT with KCC's mass production coating material technology, we expect to create significant synergy in the mobility coating material field."

Kim Beomseong, Head of KCC Central Research Institute, said, "With the expansion of the eco-friendly and autonomous mobility market, KCC and KRICT share the necessity of developing next-generation mobility functional coating materials. By fusing KCC's accumulated coating technology with KRICT's elemental technologies, we will develop differentiated automotive coating materials and lead the global mobility coating market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.