International 
. Two of Mazda Motor Corporation's Research Center technicians, Takakazu Yamane and Shigenaga Tsutomu received the Japan Business Federation Chairmans Award for Invention 2011 from the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation (JIII) in recognition of the technological invention for paint for their Three Layer Wet Paint system.
It is a method of drying and coating together in which it is possible to apply three layers of paint successively -primer layer, base layer and light-colored top layer-, without drying between these applications, in which, compared to previous paint systems, emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are reduced by 45% and CO2 emissions by 15%.
Thus, for use with this system, Mazda developed new low-solvent paints; and just as to maintain low viscosity, it reduced the size of molecules in coatings. However, when the viscosity and solvent content in the paint drop, and three successive layers are applied, these tend to mix and cause cloudy discoloration and deterioration in gloss.
The awards, which recognize the outstanding inventions of the industry, gave precisely the recognition to the system of this Japanese parent company for overcoming this problem through the development of an interface control resin that is added to the primer layer. In this way, such resin forms a barrier at the interface of the paint layers and ensures a high-quality coating, eliminating the drying process that was previously required after applying the primer layer.
Additionally, the Three Layer Wet Paint system is considered Eco-Frendly, since by directly applying the base layer and the light-colored top layer after the first, CO2 emissions are significantly reduced, collaborating with environmental sustainability.
