I have commented on many of the new wonder technologies and have trialled some for myself. Combining this with the dozens of studies (I suspect 'thousands' would not be overstating the truth, but I have insufficient time to read them all!) published in the literature, I have found that the truth tends to be one of the following:
1) The results are really that good - but rely on techniques which mean it is impossible to do outside of a laboratory, or at least a very high tech industrial, environment (eg. chemical vapour deposition)
2) The results are really that good - but rely on specific chemistry which means it won't work when translated to automotive
3) The results are really that good - but are simply not adequately durable and have limited hope of being made so.
4) The results are really not that good but they do work.
Sad as it is to be inclined to believe, number 4 is where the majority of existing products fall. Not to say there is anything wrong with them, but a great many products on the market make claims which would have you believe that they are at the bleeding edge of technology but when you actually realise where that edge lies, you find that the products remain high performing but lie some distance from the cutting edge. Take for example superhydrophobicity. This is a characteristic marketed for numerous automotive products - most of them achieve respectable hydrophobicity but I have to say I have yet to see one achieve anything close to, for instance, the 150 degree contact angle which one would typically associate with the transition between hydrophobic and super hydrophobic character. Whilst this is undoubtedly not always the case and there is a finite possibility that an incredible new technology is easily transferable, the reality we have to accept is that detailers and the likes represent a tiny market and there simply is inadequate market potential to warrant spending millions of dollars (don't kid yourself, this is small change in scientific research). We simply have to hope for some other industry to do the legwork and it just happen to be transferable.
