The coatings market continues to grow and change at a rapid pace. Not only are coatings formulators looking for metallic effects with brilliant finishes and mirror-like chrome appearance for both liquid and powder coatings, but there is increased demand for improved performance characteristics like corrosion resistance, barrier effects and thermal durability. The ever-growing importance of waterborne technology has also created exciting innovation opportunities for metallic pigment manufacturers.
This article highlights a number of decorative and functional pigments available in the Benda-Lutz®Metallic Effects portfolio by Sun Chemical. Metallic effect pigments consist of flakes or platelets of aluminum, copper, copper-zinc alloys, zinc and other metals (Figure 1). These flake pigments or pastes can be used to provide uniquely attractive aesthetics (high metallic brilliance, strong color flop etc.) in a wide variety of coatings applications. Furthermore, many metallic pigments can be used to impart improved functional properties. Corrosion resistance, barrier resistance and thermal durability are just a few examples of functional characteristics that can be improved with metallic effects.