COLOUR AND MASTERBATCH | MATERIALS


specifically designed for pharmaceutical packaging, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostic equipment. ProVital+ is formulated with raw materials pre-tested for European Pharmacopeia and biocompatibility according to ISO 10993 standards. Also at the exhibition, Avient featured a success- ful collaboration with a global manufacturer of medical devices. “Demand is growing for vivid colours that help healthcare products and tools stand out to medical professionals during their daily work and create a friendly environment for patients. However, medical devices and instru- ments are frequently exposed to harsh tempera- tures and chemicals for cleaning and disinfecting, which can diminish safety and colour,” says Avient. In order to support the customer’s desire to


create an improved medical instrument that is bio-compatible without compromising safety, chemical resistance, or colour, Avient provided pre-coloured solutions using the newly launched Colorant Chromatics Transcend Premier Healthcare Colorants. Techmer PM is another company targeting the


lucrative medical industry, and so far has tested colourants in PP and PPSU used to produce materials in both compound and masterbatch forms that meet ISO10993 and USP Class VI compliance. This enables the company to formu- late products that will meet strict requirements when the device is tested, increasing the speed to market for medical device manufacturers. ISO 10993 ensures that medical devices and their constituent materials are safe and compatible with the human body and required applications. When serving processors, Lanxess says it finds


itself increasingly accommodating other trends besides sustainability, such as electromobility. Due to regulated heavy metal contents, certain pigment classes cannot be used for colouring biodegrad- able plastics. This applies, for example, to nickel, chrome, or copper-based pigments. The European standard EN 13432:2000 and the US specification ASTM D 6400 cover plastics and products based on these materials intended for composting in municipal and industrial composting plants. Lanxess offers two product lines in this area: Macrolex soluble dyes and Colortherm iron oxide pigments. The company’s Inorganic Pigments business unit also offers a comple-


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mentary service whereby customers receive recom- mendations as to how high the maximum pigment concentration of iron oxide pigments may be in low-heavy metal formulations of bio-based plastics. The colourants from the Macrolex range are suitable for a wide range of applications and offer compatibility with numerous polymer types and manufacturing processes. It is a preferred choice of electrical appliance manufacturers due to its high purity, consistent, long-lasting colour, and safety standard, but is also increasingly being used in items such as smartphones, toys, and beverage bottles. A problem encountered in recycling is that plastic packaging coloured with carbon black does not reflect radiation and therefore cannot be detected by near infrared range (NIR) technology during waste sorting. To tackle this issue, the Macrolex series has been expanded to include black colourants that are NIR-detectable. Pigments in the Bayferrox 303 T series are used to colour black plastic, resulting in a reflectance in the NIR range of 20%. A newly developed, universally applicable masterbatch carrier system from Tosaf Color Service, the Tosaf subsidiary that has been developing products and services in plastics colouring since 1970, now complies with all common food contact requirements. These include the recommenda- tions of the German


Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) as well as the complex and varied


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regulatory requirements of the USA (FDA) and China (China Food Safety Law). This means that any


July/August 2023 | INJECTION WORLD 19


Above: Bayferrox pigments produced by Lanxess


Left: Tosaf Color Service has developed a new master- batch universal carrier system


IMAGE: LANXESS


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