Starting from our clothing to home decoration, it is undeniable that color holds a significant role in life. To produce lively colors in our surroundings, the one thing that is indispensable is pigment.

Pigment provides color, decoration, and significantly affects the film properties of the paint. It is the substance that actually gives paint colors. In other words, pigment breathes life into the paint.

Classifying Pigments

Pigments can be classified into organic pigment–which is often used in decorative paints and inorganic pigment, which is used in protective paints and contains metallic pigments. Organic pigment mostly produces brighter and richer colors, but it is less resistant to sunlight and chemicals compared to inorganic pigment.

In its pure form, pigment is made of bigger clumps that need to be dispersed into individual particles. To produce paint with a good color appearance, dispersing pigment is necessary. That is why, the pigment may be the most expensive component in certain paint.

Dispersing Pigments

To disperse pigment, there are several steps to follow: wetting, deagglomeration, and stabilization. As it implies, the wetting step consists of adsorbing water displaced from the surface into the pores between particles. To smoothen this dispersion process, wetting agents are usually used. The next step is deagglomerating or breaking the pigment into smaller particles, which often require additional wetting agent. The final step is stabilizing, where the dispersant helps to stabilize the pigment particles by adsorbing and making them repel other particles.

The Perks of Using Pigment Paste

Formulating paint from a paste with a good dispersant can break up the pigment agglomerates while preventing re-agglomeration in the paint during its film formation. As for dispersing pigment paste, there are several requirements to meet. It includes producing a uniform paste with adequate opacity as well as decent color development. While it poses quite a huge challenge, pigment paste has higher stability during storage after dispersion. 

In order to meet the dispersing requirements, using a suitable wetting and dispersing agent like DISPEX® Ultra FA 4425 is naturally more beneficial. DISPEX® Ultra FA 4425 can stabilize all kinds of pigments in both water and solvent-based systems. It enhances color compatibility and acceptability to base paints in decorative base coats and is low in aromatic content. It is also a perfect match for both universal colorant and Volatile Organic Compound-free applications.

Despite the challenges, pigment paste makes the manufacturing of paint and coating quicker. This resulted in the manufacturer being able to flexibly respond to the requirements of the customers.

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