What were the most popular car colors in this year? DuPont Corporation, a leading paint manufacturer, reports that silver is the top choice worldwide, followed by white and black. Looking ahead, the company predicts blue and gold will continue to rise in popularity, and yellow will emerge as a trendy alternative.

But another corporate giant, General Electric, says the automobile of the future may not need paint at all. Paint doesn’t just make a car look better ? it protects the metal body panels and other interior components of the car from the elements. However, painting a car exterior is an expensive and time-consuming process. Eliminating this process would not only lower a vehicle’s sticker price, it would reduce toxic emissions into the air.

For this reason, researchers have been investigating plastics that could replace paint as an exterior coating. A wish list of desired characteristics for such a plastic would include:

• Glossy, metallic finish in a variety of colors
• Scratch resistant
• Resistant to automotive fluids such as gasoline and brake fluid
• Tolerant of temperature extremes
• Able to withstand 10-15 years of outdoor weathering

Of all these properties, the most difficult to achieve has been weathering ability ? especially the ability to resist the degrading effects of ultraviolet radiation. But GE claims that it has developed a polymer film, called Sollx^TM, that is just as durable a coating as paint. After subjecting the material to the equivalent of ten years of Florida sun, the polymer retained 95 percent of its gloss. In other tests, Sollx^TMequaled or surpassed the performance of exterior paint.

Sollx^TM is a kind of polymer called a thermoplastic. Thermoplastic materials become soft and pliable when heated, as their linked molecule chains move and allow the mass to change shape. Cooling the thermoplastic stops the flow of molecules and solidifies the material. Examples of thermoplastics include PVC, polycarbonate, acrylic, and nylon. Specifically, Sollx^TM is an amorphous thermoplastic, which means its molecular chains are arranged randomly ? something like a bowl of spaghetti. In contrast to crystalline polymers, which have a very regular structure, amorphous polymers are tough and impact-resistant. Beyond that, GE isn’t revealing the Sollx^TMformula, though industry experts believe it is similar to polycarbonate.

Since Sollx^TM is still expensive to produce, it would most likely be used as a coating over other durable plastics. Researchers estimate that using the product in this way would cost roughly half the amount of a typical exterior paint job. GE placed the polymer into full production in 2001. By 2005, that high-gloss, metallic finish on your favorite car may not be painted metal, but a high-tech plastic.

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