Silica Content

[PouncingPanzer]

Weird, I was wondering this yesterday myself.

[Plop]

Gyeon Trim :

Chemical description    Chemical formula     Content         CAS No.
Polydimethylsiloxane                          25%~30%       63148 - 62 -9 
Trimethylated silica          SiO2            25%~30%       68988-56-7 
D5 Carrier oil            C10H30O5Si5          > 30%        541-02-6

[DARK HORSE]

Most quality Quartz coatings on the market are a very complex hybrid blend of ingredients. Selecting just one ingredient to define them is very deceptive and not necessarily the best way to measure the performance of the coating.

[Plop]

Gyeon Wet Coat :

Chemical description    Chemical formula     Content         CAS No.
Iso Propyl Alcohol                            10~15%        67-63-0 
Water                                         60%~70%       7732-18-5
Polydimethylsiloxane                           5~10%        63148-62-9

[WillSports3]

It depends too on how the silica content is held bonded to the paint, as well as how the solvents themselves flash off. You also have different categories of coatings and what they really are on your paint.

[PouncingPanzer]

So much science!

[Plop]

Every coating is different, but there's seriously no magic in it. The patents are old and all over the place.

I could go to any of the chemical giants (Dow, BASF, Solvay, Covestro, Evonik, AGC, AEROSIL,...) and ask their chemists about a complete tailormade coatings range. The formulas are there, waiting for us. All it takes for a successful brand is lot of marketing. Technically, not so much work. You just need dough.

[zmcgovern45]

If you have some leftover coatings laying around, a fun experiment to do is to poor 10cc or so of liquid into a small measuring cup like the clear disposable medicine cups (write down the exact amount you poor in to begin with), then let them sit until they harden. After 24-48 hours or so they should be hardened... and here is where it gets interesting... how much product is left? How much of the original 10cc's has evaporated, and how much of it has truly solidified?

I have found some surprising results with this test, and have received some interesting explanations from product reps... long story short, there are some coating products that seem to almost entirely evaporate, leaving behind very little residual solids, meaning the majority of what you are buying is just solvent.

I encourage you to do this on your own

[kevincwelch]

I guess I'm just thinking about what is volatile and what is reactant...couldn't you theoretically have a 1% Si content that winds up being 100% when it's cured, vs a 5% that has other "resins" and when it's cured and winds up being only 10% when it's cured? Maybe I'm not thinking about this the right way.

Most quality Quartz coatings on the market are a very complex hybrid blend of ingredients. Selecting just one ingredient to define them is very deceptive and not necessarily the best way to measure the performance of the coating.

Good points.

My rationale is this. The solvents are going to vary -- quite a bit -- by what petroleum distillates are present and by how much titania may be present. The petroleum distillates keep the silica in solution until it is applied and the PDs evaporate. The silica bonds instantly if it is a glass coating and over a bit of time if it is a ceramic coating. But, it's all SiO2 in the end as far as I know. The content of silica, I suspect, is important, however. Take Wet Coat for example. The content of silica is very low and the durability as well as hydrophobicity decreases very rapidly -- 1 month by my testing and up to 3 months of somewhat visible effect. I'd love to know the thickness of Wet Coat-applied silica and how hard the layer is. I'm sure there is data. My supposition is that with a more concentrated silica content solution, the potentially thicker the layer of silica is on the paint. You can generally see that some products advertise thicker and harder silica when compared to others. This can't be from the solution itself and must be due to the silica (or titania) content. When silica chemically organizes, it has the same chemical structure. But if fewer SiO2 molecules are present, the matrix isn't as robust. Potentially, the more present, the bigger/thicker/etc. the matrix is. I'm trying to thick scientifically here. Sure there are many ways to define quality: shine, gloss, hydrophobicity, hardness, thickness, etc. I'm trying to gather whether the content of silica is the reason for this.

If there isn't a rhyme or reason for the varied content of silica other than a marketing dog and pony show, I'd like to hear or read about some science behind that.

Like I said, I suspect the higher content silica coatings last longer, are thicker and harder.

For example, what's the content of CQ Finest? Or Modesta? Or TACSystem Climax? I bet it's higher than Gyeon Prime, or CQUK or C1.

[WillSports3]

Here's an interesting experiment for you. Smear some CQUK on a piece of glass. I did it to an old glass watch face, don't wipe off the highspots. Let that cure for two weeks, and then see what you get.