SPECIAL EFFECT | PIGMENTS
Making plastics look special
The latest special effect pigments meet market needs for transforming product appearance while maintaining material recyclability. Jennifer Markarian reports
Manufacturers of packaging, consumer goods, and many other products that rely on aesthetic appeal often look to special effects to give their products that little bit extra. Today’s effect additives can be used to make plastics look like metal, stone or wood; they can also provide sparkle and shine, or a luxury matt finish, and even combinations of matt and gloss. Development efforts continue to focus on improving aesthetics and ease of processing, as well as dealing with some emerging sustainability challenges. Certain aluminium effect pigments can, for
example, reflect near-infrared (NIR) radiation and this can cause parts to be non-detectable in NIR-based sorting technology in recycling facilities. That challenge has been taken up by Eckart, which devel- oped its NIR silver (SYMIC 604 series) specifically to allow NIR detection. The new pigment is also approved for food contact. According to Helmut
Wenzlik, Marketing and Technical Service for plastics at Eckart, NIR detectability for automated sorting is a priority for packaging, but is also becoming
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more important in markets such as automotive or consumer goods. Tests at Eckart found that lower concentrations of aluminium displayed less interference with NIR detection systems while gold and copper effects did not noticeably impact on NIR signals at the levels typically used in packaging.
In addition to recyclability, Wenzlik says low carbon footprint is also of growing importance. For this reason Eckart offers products with attributed recycled aluminium content. “We use secondary aluminium in our basic production on a mass balance approach. For registered customers we offer a PCF [product carbon footprint] certificate for selected products,” he says. Metallic effects, especially bright and smooth structureless effects, are forecast to become more popular in plastics applica- tions, says Wenzlik. He says that Eckart’s STAPA AC Reflexal aluminium pigment preparation series offers an optimum metallic effect that can be used in mass-coloured, paint-free applications. The company says it is currently working on newer pigments that
Main image: Effect pigments such as Avient’s Smartbatch allow plastics to mimic
metals in terms of gloss and lustre
Left: Eckart’s Reflexal aluminium pigments provide a highly effective metallic finish for mass- coloured plastic parts
March 2024 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 33
IMAGE: AVIENT
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