Graphene, 9H, Nano: How to Read Ceramic Coating Quotes

After a wash, the water stops running off the paint in beads and spreads flat across it — the car is clean and still looks tired. You ask for a quote on ceramic protection, two come back, they differ by several thousand crowns, and the descriptions say graphene, 9H and nano.

You want to know one thing: with the more expensive one, will you see anything extra on your own car?

We'll take those three words one at a time and tell you what each of them shows on the car. Then we'll get to the three items that actually decide the result, and what to ask about each of them in a quote.

What we put on your paint

A ceramic layer is built on three silicon compounds: silicon oxide, silicon nitride and silicon carbide. Silicon oxide bonds to the paint chemically — it doesn't merely sit on it the way a protective product or a sealant does, it binds to it. That is why ceramic surface protection doesn't wash off in an ordinary wash. The nitride and the carbide are what give the layer its hardness.

One applied layer is roughly 5 micrometres thick. Keep that number in mind, we'll come back to it.

Those three compounds are not what's on the label, though. "Graphene-enhanced" reads better in a quote than silicon oxide, nitride and carbide, and that is where all three of the words come from that have you comparing the two quotes now.

When one quote says nano

In a ceramic layer, the word nano applies to a single ingredient: titanium dioxide. It is a UV filter, the same one you have in sunscreen. Product descriptions sometimes call this nano-ceramic, even though it's a filter, not the structure of the layer.

It does what you'd expect from sunscreen: it keeps the sun's radiation off the paint, so your colour and gloss last longer. It adds nothing to the hardness of the layer, so you won't notice it when you wash the car or look at scratches.

That is everything the word nano tells you. And nearly every ceramic today has a UV filter, including the ones that don't mention it — this is not the word you choose between quotes on.

When the two quotes differ in the word graphene

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms, 0.34 nanometres thick. When a quote says "graphene-enhanced," that is not what goes on the car: it is the ceramic described above, with tenths of a percent of carbon black dispersed in it.

That additive contributes nothing measurable to hardness or durability, and it leaves nothing on the paint you would notice. Graphene isn't sold as a layer for a car precisely because of that thickness: for it to do anything on paint, it would have to be applied on an entirely different order of magnitude. Ceramic gets by with five micrometres because it bonds to the paint chemically.

The demo below shows both at the same scale — between 0.34 nanometres and 5 micrometres there are almost fifteen thousand multiples.

So the strength and the resistance you'll notice on the car come from the ceramic, not from the grain in it. If graphene is the only difference between your two quotes, you're paying twice for the same layer and once more for the word.

When both quotes promise 9H

Hardness in these layers is tested with pencils under the ASTM D3363 standard: pencils are drawn across the surface at a 45-degree angle, from the softest to the hardest, and you watch which one leaves a mark. 9H is the hardest in the set, so that is where the test ends.

The 9H label therefore means "a 9H pencil doesn't scratch it," not "harder than diamond." How much harder the surface actually is, neither you nor we find out, and most quality ceramics pass.

Against bare paint the difference is large, and it's measured differently: a hard ceramic comes out between 5 and 10 GPa, the paint underneath between 0.3 and 0.8. The work that would otherwise wear at the paint in every wash is taken on by the layer above it. That is what makes ceramic worth it — 9H just won't help you pick which of the two quotes.

One of them may offer a self-healing ceramic. It closes micro-scratches with warmth, and the car standing in the sun is enough for it, but it is considerably softer: around 2 GPa against those 5 to 10. So you're choosing between hardness and having small defects level themselves out. Tell us where the car is parked and how you wash it, and we'll recommend one of the two.

When you have both quotes side by side

Those three words are in both quotes. The difference between them lies in three items that look like detail next to them: what state the paint is in before application, how many layers we apply, and what you'll be washing the car with afterwards.

The state of the paint comes first, because the layer goes on top of whatever is underneath. Whatever stays on the paint stays under the layer for good. So ask about both quotes whether they include paint correction, or whether the layer goes onto the paint exactly as you bring the car in.

The second item is the number of layers. We apply them repeatedly, the same one over the other, and from those 5 micrometres several layers take us to 10 or 15. Each one needs its own curing time, so every additional layer keeps the car with us a little longer — and that is usually what makes the more expensive quote more expensive.

The third is what you'll wash the car with, and the guarantee along with it. If you use a car wash with brushes and harsher cleaners, a layer that isn't up to it will lose its gloss within a few washes. That is why a washing routine belongs with the quote, and you'll get it from us when we hand the car back. With the guarantee, don't look only at the number of years: compare what voids it and whether it requires a workshop check-up. Two guarantees for the same number of years differ in exactly that.

When neither quote suits you

If what you mainly want is gloss and easier washing, and you'd rather not spend on ceramic, we'll recommend basic surface protection.

The difference between them is the one we wrote about at the start. Ceramic bonds with the paint and, depending on the line you choose, lasts from one year to five years. A basic protective product only sits on the paint, you'll wash it off sooner and then renew it — which suits some people better than one layer for a longer stretch ahead.

Before you bring us the car

We apply the layer here in our workshop as a certified FEYNLAB workshop, it isn't a kit for home use. We wash and degrease the car, go over the paint under the light and show you what's on it; from there we agree on the correction and the number of layers. The car then stays with us until the layer has cured.

When the water runs flat across the paint again after a wash instead of beading, the protection is coming to the end of its life. Send us a photo of the paint after a wash and we'll tell you what state it's in. And attach both quotes you're comparing — we'll go through them with you item by item.

Ask about ceramic protection