The trade-off in the yellow and orange color space between the weatherability, heat stability and opacity of inorganic pigments versus the chromaticity, brightness and tint strength of organic colorants, in light of the decrease in use of pigments based on deprecated metals, has opened an opportunity for new colored pigment chemistries. Two pigment chemistries can be useful in bridging the gap between the two groups. One of the chemistries is the recent commercialization and improvement of CI Pigment Yellow 216 and Orange 82, more conversationally called rutile tin zinc (RTZ) pigments. The other is a new class of yellow pigments called niobium tin pyrochlore (NTP), assigned the designation CI Pigment Yellow 227. Together these pigments provide high chroma, opacity and durability in the yellow-orange color space. These highly engineered pigments are excellent colorants for demanding thin-film applications and are compatible with a wide range of resins.
RTZ pigments were first developed in the 1980s. Improvements have come in the product class by increasing the redness to change the color from that of a red-shade yellow to more of an orange hue. Recent modifications have enabled the achievement of a true orange shade. Shepherd Color has developed a new product that expands the colors available with this chemistry. Orange 10C341 is the reddest version of RTZ in the marketplace.