Coatings World - August 2017

High Performance Pigments

2015 to 2022. Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth of 6.0% from 2015 to 2022. Increasing automobile production in China, India, Thailand and Indonesia is expected to drive the regional market over the forecast period.

“The global high performance pigment industry was once recognized by a few multinational corporations,” analysts stated. “However, the advent of globalization has led new entrants in the industry. Companies have been taking key strategic initiatives to enhance their product portfolio and penetrate the market deeper by targeting applications such as cosmetics, inks, and plastics.”

Increasing Sales

Frank P. Lavieri, executive vice president and general manager at Lansco Colors, said that his company’s sales of high performance and special effect pigments are increasing at a double-digit rate in 2017.

“We attribute this to the strong performance of manufac-
turing generally along with the superior performance and con-
sistency of our products and services,” he said. “In addition to
these factors, high performance pigments are replacing classi-
cal pigments in applications where brand owners are requiring
safer and more durable colors.”
According to the managing director of Glassflake Ltd.,
the market for Glassflake is continuing to expand globally.
“Production of Glassflake in Leeds, UK is up by over 20 percent
in the first 6 months of 2017 compared with the first six months
of 2016, with a growth in demand across all service sectors.”
For some, the cost of high performance pigments can be pro-
hibitive. However, as technology improves and consumers re-
spond favorably to these pigments, the investment seems worth
making to many. “In 1999 Yellow 180 was selling for $31/lb
and DPP Red for $50/lb,” said Lavieri. “At these price levels, the
use of these relatively new, at that time, and innovative high per-
formance pigments were limited to applications which required
their performance.

Today, these pigments sell for 20-50 percent of their 1999 price levels as a result of the breakdown of the patent protected monopolies which could charge these high prices.

“Formulators in 2017 use both Yellow 180 and DPP Red to a much greater extent now because of the value they bring, not only for their high performance. These pigments are both coloristically strong, which at today’s price levels offer a better value in use than some lower priced classical pigments. Additionally, the manufacturing of high performance pigments generally are less impactful on the environment. The reasons to formulate with high performance pigments has gotten stronger over the last many years while their prices have declined,” he concluded.

Glassflake Ltd. acknowledged that raw material prices can drive cost for high performance pigments. “In the UK, for the minerals used with the Glassflake have (with couple of notable exceptions) been relatively stable over the past twelve months.

One of the biggest factors governing manufacture of any glass
product, is the cost of energy. A significant investment in solar
panels and an on-site electricity supply, has helped to moder-
ate any significant uplift in these costs. Changes in Glassflake
supply prices have been modest compared with some other per-
formance enhancing pigment on the market.”

New Products, Markets To Keep An Eye On
Rose Qin, global business director, pigments for coatings,
BASF, said that BASF recently announced its latest innova-
tion, Sicopal Red EH 2370 (L 3050), a high performance, in-
organic red pigment with a new Colour Index, Pigment Red
290. “Ideal for coating applications including architectural
and industrial applications, the new pigment is significantly
more chromatic than iron oxides and offers much more red-
dish tones compared to inorganic orange pigments. It provides
expanded design options along with excellent opacity, remark-
able stability, plus a durability that exceeds lead chromates,”
she said. “Due to its robustness, the new pigment is ideal for
use in applications such as exterior facades, roofing, powder
coatings, coil coated facades, signal colors on bridges, cranes
and oil platforms, and more.”
Within the BASF pigments portfolio, the Paliogen perylenes
are high performance organic pigments with high chroma and
transparency that provide outstanding weathering fastness and
good flocculation stability, which promote their use in automo-
tive and high end industrial applications.

The newest member, Paliogen Red L 3990, is an extremely saturated blue shade perylene red pigment that simultaneously delivers perfect brilliance, good transparency and high tint strength,” Qin said. Paliogen Red L 3990 enhances styling options especially for red effect shades. This is made possible through very narrow particle size distribution in an optimized process. The product is suitable for both solventborne and waterborne applications without compromising technical properties like bleeding and dispersibility.

Recently, Qin added, BASF and Landa Labs announced their strategic long-term partnership at the European Coatings Show (ECS) in April. Under this exclusive agreement, BASF will employ Landa’s revolutionary nano-pigment technology in a new portfolio of easy dispersible ultra-high transparency pigments marketed under the Colors & Effects brand. This groundbreaking development will offer unprecedented color depth while significantly simplifying the production of automotive coatings.

“The Landa nano-pigment technology – originally developed for the printing industry – allows BASF to introduce a new generation of Colors & Effects pigments with the highest quality consistency for the final automotive coating. The smaller size and narrower particle distribution leads to a thinner, higher chroma coating,” Qin concluded.

Representatives from Glassflake said its products are used in diverse applications, while most commonly used to improve the resistance to gas and water vapour diffusion in high performance coatings and thermoplastics. “Glassflake enhances a range of other properties including higher permeation resistance, higher mechanical and tensile properties, greater fire resistance, greater dimensional stability, improved wear resistance, the list could go on.”