SPECIAL EFFECT | PIGMENTS
Special effect pigments and masterbatches can provide unique looks as well as improving sustainability. Jennifer Markarian reports on some of the latest developments
Delivering effects to shimmer and shine
The impact of social media on our everyday lives has been huge, changing the ways people communicate but also calling for new considerations in product presentation that meet the needs of the digital age. Packaging is no exception. While the aesthetics of packaging and consumer goods have long been important for shelf appeal, today’s craze for posting images to social media is adding a new dimension for plastic compound formulators to consider. “The packaging industry is impacted by the
‘Instagram effect,’ which necessitates high sparkle effects to enhance products so they will photo- graph well,” says Dr Breeze Briggs, Technical Industry Manager for Colour Materials at Sun Chemical. “We see more requests coming in for our brilliant and colour-travel effect pigments. Effect pigments must provide a ‘wow’ factor for such applications.”
Briggs points to Sun Chemical’s SunMica Lux, which she says achieves this packaging wow factor, particularly in the high-end cosmetics packaging sector. The product is based on synthetic mica,
www.compoundingworld.com
which makes it cleaner and whiter due to a lower level of naturally occurring minerals than typically found in natural mica. It is also optically pure, ultra-smooth, and available in a range of various particle sizes to give product developers options for creating different looks, she says. Sun Chemical — a division of DIC Corporation which last year acquired and integrated BASF’s global Colors & Effects business — also recently added several effect pigments to the Lumina Royal series. “Lumina Royal Sparkling Blue is a high chroma, blue-shade effect pigment with intense colour. It delivers exceptional chromaticity and unmatched lightness to style vibrant new colours throughout the aqua to violet colour areas. Its strong sparkle provides an attractive eye-catching appearance for economical solutions,” says Briggs. “Lumina Royal Blue Russet is a semi-transparent bluish-russet shade effect pigment based on synthetic mica. It provides intense colour in applications that have demanding weathering requirements.”
Main image: Sparkle and gloss are proving increasingly attractive options for plastics used in applications ranging from packaging to consumer goods
� March 2022 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 47
IMAGE: COLLOIDS
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