Fluorescent Pigments and Their Application Analysis

Fluorescence is a photoluminescent process. In this process, short-wavelength electromagnetic waves in the ultraviolet or visible wavelength band are absorbed and released as long-wavelength electromagnetic waves. The latter usually falls within the visible light range and superimposes with the conventional reflected light, thus revealing dazzling fluorescent colors.

The commercial application of fluorescent pigments as colorants can be traced back to the field of graphic arts in Europe and the United States in the 1940s. The earliest is mainly used for display points, advertisements, security marks, etc. for the point of sale. Today, fluorescent materials have been widely used in fields including toys, fashion, packaging, and so on.

Fluorescent pigments are often used in places and places that require special attention. Research on children and adults abroad has shown that products using fluorescent colors can attract their attention earlier than traditional products using similar colors, and they can hold such attention for longer periods of time and are more likely to attract attention. They look back at the second eye. Therefore, the merchants of Europe and the United States are trying their best to promote the sales of their products and trying to apply fluorescent colors to their products in various ways.

In the highly competitive business world, one way to make your product look different from others is to apply a clean, bright fluorescent color. One common method is to use a small amount of fluorescent color on the traditional monotonous background color to embellish the theme text, trademark or other graphic concepts. Sometimes fluorescent colors are also incorporated into traditional colors to increase the overall color effect of the latter.

In view of the professionalism of this market, only a handful of manufacturers located in Europe, the United States and Japan have enjoyed substantial success in this field. The domestic high-end fluorescent pigment market is still heavily dependent on imports.

Fluorescent pigment properties

The difference between fluorescent pigments and traditional pigments is not only in color but also in chemistry. Traditional pigments can be either organic or inorganic and have very low solubility properties. Their dispersion usually requires strong shear. Their particles are usually opaque.

Daylight-type fluorescent pigments are strictly solid solutions of fluorescent dyes formed in brittle polymer resins. The latter is ground into a fine powder and becomes a pigment or a colorant. The characteristics of its solid solution make it often transparent in the application.

Environment and toxicity

With the increasing awareness of environmental protection in the international community, environmental protection legislation has become increasingly stringent. Many chemical industries, including various types of industries that use and produce color products, are facing severe challenges. Fortunately, the fluorescent pigment industry is not yet in this category. Under normal circumstances, fluorescent pigment products do not contain heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, Hg, and Cr. Many fluorescent pigment products are also used for skin irritation and acute toxicity tests. The results show that the fluorescent pigments are "essentially non-irritating" and "essentially non-toxic".

Plastic coloring

Fluorescent pigments that are qualified for quality testing are used by masterbatch manufacturers to make solid masterbatches or liquid concentrates and are used in plastics processing processes including injection molding, transfer molding, blow molding, extrusion, and vacuum forming. In general, fluorescent colorants for plastics are mainly used for polyolefins, vinyl plastisols, and less for polystyrenes, polyacrylics, and ABSs.

Products using fluorescent pigments are more common in toys, detergent bottles, traffic cones, and safety equipment and appliances. At present, the application of fluorescent pigments for plastics in diaphragms and fibers is rare, mainly due to its inherent transparency and relatively low light intensity.

Plastic processing problems

One of the most common process problems when using fluorescent pigments is the occurrence of sticking. It is generally believed that the sticking roll occurs due to the thermal decomposition of the oligomer component in the resin and the small molecular weight organic material such as the fluorescent dye, and the precipitation of fouling screws and other metal components from the polymer.

Faced with this problem, the colorant processing manufacturers and masterbatch processing companies have taken corresponding measures. The former proceed from the molecular weight of colorants, on the one hand trying to change the distribution of molecular weight, and on the other hand trying to reduce the low molecular weight components, thereby reducing the chance of decomposition and precipitation. Masterbatch manufacturers and additive suppliers are trying to develop additives that aim to reduce sticking.

The use of fluorescent pigments may also encounter problems with thermal stability and matching with the resin. Fluorescent pigment manufacturers are always looking for ways to improve processing performance.

Application of Fluorescent Pigments in Coatings

Fluorescent pigments can also be applied to various coatings such as textile printing pastes, traffic marking paints, advertising paints, toy paints, bicycle paints, and various inks. Different paints have different performance requirements for pigments. At present, fluorescent pigment manufacturers around the world have opened up fluorescent pigments with different properties to meet the performance and price requirements of the market. Such as DAYGLO's AX series, Hangzhou JCOLOR® DS series of excellent chemicals are suitable for a variety of coatings with low solvent resistance and anti-bleeding requirements. The CPS's PS series and Hangzhou JCOLOR® JT series of brilliant chemicals are greatly improved in solvent resistance and bleed resistance, and can be used in various paints with high requirements for anti-bleeding. In particular, the recent introduction of Hangzhou Wonderful Chemicals' microsphere fluorescent pigment JCOLOR® VQ series has excellent solvent resistance and bleed resistance. It is suitable for use in various strong solvent-based coatings, and the VQ series is opaque. This has good hiding power and better weatherability than ordinary fluorescent pigments.

In the coatings industry, the selection of raw materials is also in the direction of environmental protection. Previously in print coatings, most domestic manufacturers used formaldehyde-containing fluorescent pigments, but now they are required not to contain formaldehyde not only in the export products but also in some domestic products. Therefore, more and more manufacturers use formaldehyde-free fluorescent pigments. At present, the environment-friendly fluorescent pigment products commonly used in the paint industry on the domestic market include: JCOLOR® JC100, GW-G, VQ, EM, and JM series of Hangzhou Wonderful Chemicals, and the EA series of CIBA.

Small knot

The use of fluorescent pigments and related colorants in the fields of plastics, coatings and inks has continued to grow over the past few centuries. People are still continuing their efforts to develop products with better heat resistance, light resistance, low stickiness, high strength and high opacity. With these improvements in performance, fluorescent pigments and related colorants will surely find application in a wider range of plastic products.

Fluorescent pigments are a relatively new industry in our country. The continuous growth of the domestic market for fluorescent pigments, especially the growing demand for various performance fluorescent pigments in industries such as plastics, coatings, and inks in China, including the growth in the demand for environmentally friendly fluorescent pigments, has provided China with a vast range of fluorescent pigments. The development of space. With the recent rapid progress in the production technology and research and development capabilities of domestic fluorescent pigments, China's fluorescent pigments have also become more rapidly globalized and have participated in international competition.



He Jianwei Yang Shaoping Zhang Xuqiang Hangzhou Wonderful Chemical Co., Ltd.