Back-to-basics: adding

colour to plastics
Colours and special effects are key ingredients of plastics
compounds, offering countless possibilities to designers
who want to differentiate their products. Colorant suppliers
sell their pigments and dyes primarily to compound and
masterbatch producers, although a small volume goes directly
to processors of finished parts. Jennifer Markarian reviews some
of the basics, including types of colorants and special effects,
how they are added to compounds and masterbatches, and
concerns for adding them at the processing line.

Colorants for plastics include dyes, or- formance chemicals-coatings, plastics, and absorption and reflection of visible light
ganic pigments, and inorganic pigments, specialties for BASF in North America. that gives it a colour. Pigments also have
typically added to plastics as dry, free- Inorganic pigments provide opaque a characteristic absorption and reflection
flowing solids or sometimes as liquids. colour, have high thermal stability (some of infrared (IR) light. IR light-reflecting
Dyes are organic chemicals that are to over 980°C or 1800°F), and good light CICPs reduce the heat absorption of
soluble in polymers and provide strong, stability, but do not typically have as dark colours exposed to sunlight, making
transparent colour. While dyes tend to bright a colour as organic pigments. Some plastics cooler to the touch, eliminating
migrate in polyolefins, they are used in inorganic pigments can degrade physical softening and warping, and reducing
plastics such as acrylic, rigid PVC, polyes- properties in glass-fibre reinforced resins polymer degradation.
ter and polystyrene. by causing fibres to break during process- In choosing a colorant, users look at hue,
Pigments are organic or inorganic ing. Every pigment has its own selective brightness, translucent or opaque qualities,
particles that are insoluble in polymers.
Organic pigments provide strong, trans-
lucent or transparent colour, and have
smaller average particle size than inorgan-
ics. Classical organic pigments have ther-
mal stability lower than that of average
inorganic pigment, and some can cause
part warpage. Newer, high heat-resistant
and high-performance organic pigments
are stable to about 300°C (572°F) and can
be designed to minimize warpage. High-
performance pigments also have improved
lightfastness relative to classical pigments.
Some organic pigments can be designed
for greater light- and weather-fastness by
adjusting particle size.
Inorganic pigments include lead chromate
and metal oxides with various colours
and titanium dioxide for white. Complex
inorganic colour pigments (CICP) are
complexes of several metals. Carbon black
is often classified with inorganic pig-
ments, but it is actually organic in nature, Figure 1: Inorganic pigments (courtesy of Clariant Pigments & Additives)
notes Thierry Chevrier, director of per-

Plastics Additives & Compounding September/October 2009 ISSN1464-391X/09 © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
12
 Colour

colour intensity, thermal stability, light-

and weather-fastness, migration resistance,
chemical resistance, ease of dispersion,
affect on physical properties like warping,
and cost to colour the final part. In ad-
dition, colorants and effects must meet
regulatory requirements for the target
country and application. For example, in
Europe, RoHS [Restriction on Hazardous
Substances] regulations restrict heavy met-
als, such as lead and cadmium, which are
found in some inorganic pigments. In the
U.S., FDA [Food and Drug Administra-
tion]–approved colours must not contain
heavy metals. Formulators should work
closely with their suppliers to find the right
balance of properties for an application.

Special effects
Special effect pigments use various types
of inorganic particles to create pearles-
cent, metallic, marble, speckle and other
effects. An effect is produced when light
going to the plastic part is refracted, re-
flected, absorbed, scattered, or transmit-
ted (see Figure 2). An effect’s appearance
can be changed by manipulating particle
characteristics or loading level. For exam-
ple, larger particles, which are more re-
flective, have more sparkle, while smaller
particles produce a satin sheen. Synthetic
mica provides brighter colours with more
sparkle because it has greater transpar-
ency and reflectivity than naturally
occurring mica, explains Scott Heitzman,
business development manager at Sun
Chemical Performance Pigments. Effect
pigments can be mixed with colour pig-
ments, or the particles themselves can
be coated to add further effect or colour.
Interference colour, which results from
light reflecting at angles from the top and
bottom of the metal-oxide coating, varies
depending on the coating thickness. In-
terference colours change depending on
the viewing angle. An absorption colour
pigment can be added to the interference
colour for further effect. Effects used in
niche applications include photochro-
mic pigments that change colour when
activated by UV light, thermochromic
pigments that change colour based on
temperature, and phosphorescent pig-
ments that have a glow-in-the-dark effect.
Figure 2: How light interacts with an object (courtesy of Ciba Corporation, part of the
BASF group)
In the last five years, the range of effects
has grown and become more widely used,
driven by OEMs desire to differentiate
their products.
Compounding pigments
When creating coloured or effect
compounds or masterbatches from
pigments, the goal is good dispersion
– wetting the pigment surface with the
polymer, breaking up agglomerates,
and separating pigment particles. Full
dispersion of individual pigment parti-
cles or colour sites results in the highest
possible colour strength. Breaking an
agglomerate of two pigment particles
increases the colour strength, explains
Nigel Sale, North American techni-
cal manager at Clariant Pigment and
Additives. To obtain good dispersion,
compounders typically use twin-screw
extruders, internal lubricants or slip
additives, and optimized processing
conditions. Optimizing shear and feed-
ing points is particularly important for
dispersing effects, since too much shear
can break the effect particles. Effects
have to be handled with care in dispers-
ing in a concentrate, but should not be
difficult for the processor to use once
they are encapsulated in the polymer,
comments Prakash Patel, senior techni-
cal director at Ampacet.
Pigment suppliers improve pigment
dispersion characteristics by balancing
particle size, shape, and surface treat-
ments. Pigments are supplied as standard
dry colour (free-flowing solid powder
formed by drying a presscake of 35-50%
pigment in water) or as pigment disper-
sions. Some pigment producers make
pigment dispersions by mixing the aque-
ous presscake with polymer. Then, under
temperature and shear, the pigment
migrates into the polymer, the water is
flushed to the surface and poured off,
and the resulting pre-dispersion is cooled
and ground. This method eliminates
aggregate formation, which usually oc-
curs during drying the presscake, and so
provides excellent dispersion characteris-
tics in the following compounding step,
explains Mr. Heitzman. Sun Chemical’s

Plastics Additives & Compounding September/October 2009

13
Colour
pigment dispersion made by this method
contains 50% pigment, and their Pre-
disol™ dispersions made with a propri-
etary process allow up to 60% pigment
loading with a variety of carriers. Ciba's
MICROLEN® MC granular preparations
contain 45-60% organic pigment, fully-
dispersed in low molecular weight poly-
ethylene. Ciba recently introduced MIC-
ROLEN® MP pre-dispersed, low-dusting
preparations. These preparations contain
50-65% organic pigment in a low-
molecular weight polyethylene carrier for
easy processing in compound or master-
batch production, explains Tad Finnegan,
technical centre head for colorants and
additives for plastics at Ciba Corporation,
now part of the BASF group.
Options for processors
Plastics processors can purchase ready-to-
use compounds containing pre-dispersed
colour, effects and additives at the
required concentrations. Alternatively,
processors can purchase a masterbatch
that contains concentrated colour and ef-
fects to be mixed with resin or ‘let-down’
to the required level. Masterbatches can
be more cost-effective for processors
using large volumes of one resin type,
giving them economies of scale, reducing
inventory, and increasing flexibility. While
compounds historically offered better
colour control, suppliers say that today’s
advanced dosing and compounding tech-
nologies allow high colour quality with
masterbatches. Including functional ad-
ditives in the colour or effect masterbatch
to improve cost-efficiency is a relatively
recent industry trend.
Today’s technology makes highly-loaded
masterbatches possible. For example,
typical titanium dioxide loadings were
50% in the past, but are typically 70%
and as high as 80% today, reports Dr.
Patel, who notes this is practically at
the empirical limit (based on titanium
dioxide’s surface area) of 82.5%. Maxi-
mum loading levels vary by resin type as
well as pigment type, surface area, and
particle size. Higher pigment loadings can
be more cost-effective for the processor
because they use less carrier resin. Highly-
concentrated masterbatches can be used
Plastics Additives & Compounding September/October 2009
Figure 3: New dSperse minibead
pellets from Americhem.
at 1-2% loading or even lower in the
final mixture. Masterbatch suppliers have
generally moved to smaller masterbatch
pellet sizes with these lower use-rates.
Patel comments that an average of 40-50
masterbatch pellets per gram (ppg) is
common for 5-10% letdown rates, but
75 ppg up to 200 ppg is used for letdown
rates less than 1-2%. Smaller pellets help
with more accurate dosing at these lower
feed rates. Smaller pellets also melt faster,
which improves colour distribution on
processing lines, especially with the trend
towards running processing lines hot-
ter and faster. Americhem says its new
dSperse™ minibead masterbatch lowers
energy use because it melts faster and
distributes easily. The highly concentrated
dSperse minibeads allow use rates as low
as 0.05%.
While pelletized masterbatches are used
most widely, liquid concentrates or
masterbatches may have advantages in
some applications, comments Clari-
ant Masterbatches, which offers both
pelletized masterbatches and, through
their 2008 acquisition of Rite Systems,
liquid concentrates. For example, liquid
colour is often used in PET because it
allows excellent transparency and accu-
rate let-downs as low as 0.001%, notes
Clariant. Liquid colour offers high
pigment loadings and a universal carrier
that is compatible with many polymeric
systems, adds Mr. Chevrier, noting
14
that BASF Colour Solutions, based in
Europe, offers solid, liquid, and powder
masterbatches. Liquid colour is also
easily stirred into liquid plastics such
as polyurethane, PVC-plastisols, or
PVC-organosols. ‘Housekeeping’ has
historically been a problem in using
liquid colour, but specially designed
dosing equipment reduces drips and
spills, say other liquid suppliers.
Whatever form is chosen, processors
should be sure that their equipment
can adequately dose and distribute
masterbatches at the required let-down
rate. Volumetric feeders require ex-
tensive calibration, which introduces
more measurement error. Gravimetric
(weight-based) feeders are more ex-
pensive, but have more reliable, higher
accuracy dosing that can allow lower
colorant rates because operators do not
have to ‘over-dose’ to compensate for
feeder error. Higher throughput rates
or improper screw design or processing
conditions for a given resin and master-
batch can lead to inadequate pigment
distribution.
Masterbatch suppliers have created
solutions for some of the problems
Figure 4: ProBlend colour leveling
additive from Ampacet provides
dimensional stability and efficiency
that allows all colours to run at the
same speed with no warpage or
leakage problems.

associated with processing colours
and effects. Because special effects are
often large, platy particles, they can
have a detrimental effect on properties,
but masterbatch suppliers offer solu-
tions like coupling agents and targeted
carrier resins that can mitigate these
concerns. Effects can create knit or flow
lines in moulded parts, but suppliers
have developed grades with improved
performance. When using some organic
pigments, moulders must watch out for
uneven part shrinkage caused by the
organic pigment acting as a nucleating
agent. Ampacet says its new ProBlend™
‘colour leveling’ additive improves
moulding of parts coloured with or-
ganic pigments, creating uniform shrink
in all directions. Ampacet says ProBlend
allows all colours to be run at the same
speed and temperature without ad-
versely affecting quality, eliminating the
frustration many moulders have with
using optimized, colour-specific process
temperatures or speeds.
Colour selection
Compound and masterbatch producers
agree that, even before accurate dos-
ing and effective processing, a key to
successfully colouring parts is commu-
nication between processors and colour
suppliers so that all requirements can be
considered early in the design process.
Colour is very subjective, depending
on the part’s texture, lighting, and the
person. However, colour can be meas-
ured by a spectrophotometer, which
quantifies the perceived colour using
Figure 5: Americhem’s vDesign
web-based software allows custom-
ers to upload colour and additive
property requirements to the system
and access a range of masterbatch
formulations.
the CIE L*a*b* scale (L* represents
difference between light and dark, a*
represents the difference between green
and red, and b* represents the differ-
ence between yellow and blue). This
measured colour can be communicated
digitally over the internet, allowing the
same colour to be seen or produced at
different geographic locations. Software
is available to calibrate spectrophotom-
eters and monitors so that virtual colour
is measured and represented identically
on all equipment in a system. Today,
colour salespeople and their customers
can use hand-held spectrophotom-
eters to match a colour in the field.
In addition, web-based services and
Plastics Additives & Compounding September/October 2009
15
Colour
databases help designers visualize and
choose colour, either creating a custom
colour-match or selecting an available
formulation. A new entry in this service
category is Americhem’s vDesign® web-
based software, which allows customers
to upload colour and additive property
requirements to the system and access a
range of masterbatch formulations that
meet their requirements. The database
can sort results based on key criteria like
performance attributes, colour range or
price. Using such databases and virtual
colour communication greatly acceler-
ates the design process compared to the
old method of producing and shipping
successive colour samples between sup-
plier and designer.
Contacts:
Americhem
Tel: +1 330 929 4213
Website: www.americhem.com
Ampacet Corporation
Website: www.ampacet.com
BASF Corporation
Tel: +1 973 245 6405
Website: www.basf.com
Ciba Corporation, a part of the BASF group
Tel: +1 914 785 2000
Website: www.ciba.com
Clariant Masterbatches Division
Tel: +1 508 829 6321
Website: www.clariant.masterbatches.com
Clariant Pigments & Additives
Tel: +1 401 823 2443
Website: www.pa.clariant.com
Sun Chemical
Tel: +1 513 681 5950
Website: www.sunchem.com