PIGMENTS | SPECIAL EFFECTS


for colouring plastics that get closer than ever at replacing metallic plating with a comparable alternative,” he says. Hannah cites champagne and bronze


gold effects among examples of this, as well as a red that he says highlights a new generation of pigments that are capable


of giving a depth of colour and shimmer that have not previously been seen in plastics.


Combined trends


“We also see a trend towards not just using effect pigments, but also towards combin- ing the pigments with laser additives and using a laser marker to alter the appearance of the pigments post-production. Magic


IMAGE: GRAFE Above:


Mermaid FX flip-flop


pigments from Grafe applied in a 3D print filament


Touch for instance shows a way to use a laser to


create a haptic appearance of coral on a plastic surface,” he says.


Another Gabriel-Chemie masterbatch — Simply Magic — uses a combination of effect pigments and laser additives to enable different colours and effects to be produced. “The plastic is all the same base colour, so only one colour needs to be moulded, and the technology enables visual effects such as patterns and designs in mono- chrome to be realised post-production,” says Hannah. “Simply Magic demonstrates this in a camouflage effect that is currently trending in many areas of product design.” Finally, Hannah says effect or colour pigments can be combined to produce marble effects in two, three or more colours. “The pigments themselves need not be new, but the combination of different colours and effects opens up a whole new per-


spective for existing pigments,” he says. The company’s Marble Topaz Spirit uses a combination of different coloured plastics to give an individual effect. No two products are the same, providing a means to produce completely individualised products using standard mass-production manu- facturing equipment. Germany’s Grafe Advanced Polymers intro- duced its Mermaid flip-flop effect compounds a couple of years ago with high-end products in mind (the company notes that the pigments used are not inexpensive). “It can be implemented well for small production runs, and filament manufactur- ers for 3D printing have also expressed interest,” says Manfred Fischer, Head of Marketing. The Mermaid products are also said to work well in two-component injection moulding. “Very good results have been shown when combining, for example, re-granulated black ABS as a low-cost carrier with the PMMA-based effect compound as a top layer. Some projects were started in 2019, but then paused for the time being by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. However, we expect that this topic will pick up speed again,” Fischer says.


CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION: � www.eckart.net � www.schlenk.com � www.shepherdcolor.com � www.merckgroup.com � www.sunchemical.com � www.ampacet.com � www.avient.com � www.gabriel-chemie.com � www.grafe.com


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