Understanding colour | colour & masterbatch
Ron Beck, R&D manager at Americhem, looks at how colour works, how it is perceived, and the implications for specifying, controlling and measuring colour in plastics
Appearance is everything: controlling colour in plastics
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And so is the perception of colour. By defi nition colour is what we see – the physical
modifi cation of light by an object as observed by the human eye and interpreted by the brain. With all of these variables at play, one thing is clear. Not all people see, or feel, colour the same. Polymer engineers have a unique challenge when picking just the right colour that will broadly appeal to their end users. Colour is a powerful tool that is proven to affect mood, initiate action or even cause physiologi- cal reactions. Through our eyes, our brains take in
information about colour and integrate it into a concept or feeling. In fact, colour can be mood altering and has been used as a therapeutic tool as far back as ancient civilizations in Egypt, China and Greece. Much goes into choosing just the right colour to
convey a message or feeling about a plastic product. However, much more goes into how to actually achieve that colour.
In this article, we will examine the physics of colour,
discuss the factors that defi ne appearance and take a closer look at best practices in colour measurement and polymer design.
Figure 1: Three examples of light energy with their spectral power distribution: Illuminant A (Incandescent) has a colour temperature at 2,856 K; Illuminant D65 (Daylight) has a colour temperature at 6,500 K; and Illuminant F2 (Fluorescent) has a colour temperature at 4,200 K
www.injectionworld.com April 2014 | INJECTION WORLD 33
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