There are many different pigments available in the market and even more dispersing agents to disperse them. The general assumption is that dispersing agents containing affine groups, like styrenes, work well in the dispersion of organic pigments, while polyacrylates are good for dispersing inorganic pigments. However, the reality is much more complex due to wide varieties in pigment particle surfaces and pigment qualities. For the formulator, this can lead to large pre-testing phases in order to determine the right dispersing agent, leading to a flowable and low-viscous, storage-stable pigment preparation that can achieve the right tinting performance for water-based paint systems.

The introduction of dispersing agents that are suitable for all types of pigments creates opportunities to simplify the process of producing high-performance waterborne pigment preparations. To demonstrate the potential offered by a recently developed “universal dispersing agent,” Dispersogen^® Flex 100, comparative tests have been conducted on organic and inorganic pigments in key areas including storage stability of the corresponding pigment preparations and their color strength development in water-based paint systems.