In 2013, Evonik marketed a new building block for heat-curing clear coats that are particularly effective for protecting cars against microscratches. Now, thanks to developers who have “taught” the building block to cure at room temperature, it can also be used to maintain the beauty and shine of parquet, furniture, and plastic surfaces.

When the coating experts in the Resource Efficiency Segment started a new project in 2010, they called it Adamant. The name is derived not only from the German word Diamant (“diamond”) but also from the Greek word ἀδάμας , which can be translated as “invincible.” The project was just as ambitious as the name: The goal was to develop raw materials that would make coatings extraordinarily resistant to the abrasive effect of dust, dirt, and cleaning equipment, and even outshine traditional two-component polyurethane coatings.

Even razor-thin layers of coating can make an astonishing improvement in the strength of surfaces against external influences such as moisture, sunlight or cleaning products. For example, the outermost coating layer on cars is usually only about 40 thousandths of a millimeter thick, and yet it effectively protects the metallic bodywork of a car against the damaging impact of UV radiation and chemicals such as gasoline. The chemical industry has improved this aspect of the coatings many times over the decades.

Other examples include wood floors and furniture. If they are coated with an advanced high-performance coating, even red wine from an overturned glass leaves no permanent traces. By default, the manufacturers of both coating raw materials and coatings use tests to demonstrate to their customers how their products cope with coffee, mustard, vinegar, and cleaning products. It is not surprising that kitchen manufacturers, for example, place greater value on high resistance to such substances than producers of bookcases or wardrobe closets.