EDW PIGMENTS | Innovation Spotlight Page 1

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Innovation Spotlight
EDW PIGMENTS
Issue: Spring 2011
EDW pigments and water-based
Colanyl 500 pigment preparations
for low emission, deep colors
New generation of innovative colored pigments from Clariant
Dreaming about a new interior: nothing easier! Just move the furniture aside and pick up a
paint roller! Painting walls is easy, quick and great fun. Just one diferent color on a wall and
the character of the room will change. It is amazing how a small variation can have such an
efect on a living atmosphere. It makes small rooms appear larger, can be stimulating or have a
calming efect. When choosing a new paint, the brightness of the color shade is not the only
parameter to select: its quality is also important. The paint should be manufactured in an
eco-friendlier process and should not expose the home environment to volatile organic
compounds (VOC), like for example solvents, lm forming auxiliaries and preservatives.
To meet these demands, Clariant has developed a new series of organic pigments: the
EDW pigments, says Dr. Jess Pitarch Lpez, development chemist at Clariant. Wetting
and separating the pigment particles is facilitated by treating the pigments with additives
to form a special surface treatment. These are dispersed very nely and homogeneously
throughout the paint system, thereby providing not only great brilliance but also enhanced
eco-friendliness as they simplify the paint manufacturing process and reduce the required
amount of dispersants.
EDW PIGMENTS | Innovation Spotlight Page 2
Emulsion paint: the problem of clumping
Most commercially available wall paints from the DIY stores are emulsion paints. In 2009,
3.75 billion liters of paints and coatings were produced for the decorative market in Europe.
In Germany about 60 percent of decorative paints are emulsion paints for interior use.
Emulsion paint consists mainly of four components: pigments for coloration, resin as binder,
llers/additives as well as water. The most difcult step in paint manufacture is dispersing
the pigment particles to get a homogenous colored paint. Due to forces on the surface the
microscopically small pigment particles stick together like tiny magnets. It is a real challenge
to overcome this phenomenon and to separate the particles again. The same forces can be
observed when cooking: our consists of tiny particles that appear to stick to each other; in
contrast, coarse grain sugar can be poured. Thats why its so difcult to stir our into a sauce
without it clumping.
Manufacturers of emulsion paints are facing a very similar problem. Separating the aggre-
gated pigment particles and dispersing them evenly in the paint is challenging. When using
conventional pigments, several processing steps are necessary. In the rst step, the pigment
is synthesized. A new chemical compound is created from several reactants and, after
filtration and drying, the powder pigment is obtained. In a second step, the pigment is
premixed in water with additives in a mixing equipment called dissolver and then trans-
ferred to a bead mill to produce a pigment preparation which will be used later on to color
the paint. The bead mill is a vessel containing millions of tiny milling beads which are moved
by a motor. In a process lasting several hours, the milling beads gradually break up the
clumped pigments and disperse them evenly and nely. In addition, additives are added to
prevent the pigment particles clumping together again and to ensure that the desired color
properties are achieved and stabilized. Formulations manufactured according to this proce-
dure are called pigment preparations or pigment pastes like e.g. Colanyl 500 product range
from Clariant. These pigment preparations are used for the coloration of emulsion paints.
The bead milling process is expensive due to the high cost of machines, production time and
workforce. Moreover, this working step also afects the environment because of the electrical
energy required by the bead mill and the intensive cleaning that needs to be done after every
operating cycle. This consumes large amounts of water as well as cleaning agents and produces
wastewater which needs to be treated.

THE NEW ORGANIC EDW PIGMENTS are
treated with a special additive which consi-
derably simplies the production process of
emulsion paints and disperses the pigment
particles extremely nely and homogeneously
in the binder.
The resulting pigment pastes are also highly
suitable for further processing into environ-
mental and eco-friendlier decorative paints.
EDW PIGMENTS | Innovation Spotlight Page 3

THE COMPLETE COLOR SPECTRUM of
the EDW pigment series.
EDW pigments: no clumping thanks to special surface modication
The new organic Clariant EDW pigments make the costly and time-consuming bead milling
process unnecessary. EDW stands for easily dispersible waterborne which means that the
pigment particles are easily dispersible in water. The surface of the pigment particles is treated
with a special additive to avoid clumping. This additive is already added to the pigments
during manufacture, explains Dr. Thomas Metz, Head of Technical Marketing Coatings at
Clariant. In this process, the surface of the primary particles is covered with the optimum
amount of additive. This makes the clumped pigment particles known as agglomerates and
aggregates that are formed during pigment manufacture easier to separate.
The additive has a double function: it alters the polarity of the surface and surrounds the
pigment particles with chemical spacers rather like prickles on a chestnut. The aggregates
are separated from each other and the greater distance weakens the electrostatic forces,
which makes the particles easier to separate. For paint manufacture, this means that when
using EDW pigments just a single working step, stirring in the dissolver, is sufcient to
homogeneously disperse the pigments. The use of a bead mill is not necessary anymore.
The homogeneous dispersion of pigments provides outstanding color development and an
intensive color. To produce a specic color shade, EDW pigments can also be dispersed in
combination and together with inorganic pigments in one process step. By the beginning of
2012, the complete color spectrum of the EDW pigment series will be available from the
high fastness organic pigments to the cost oriented alternatives, forecasts Dr. Gerd Knig,
Head of Coating Market Segment at Clariant.
Ecolabel for paints with pigment pastes from Clariant
Colanyl 500 pigment preparations are highly suitable to manufacture environmental and eco-
friendlier decorative paints which are in accordance to ecolabels like the German Blue Angel.
These paints have a particularly low content of solvents, formaldehyde and plasticizers. The
preservatives are also kept to a minimum. Since they have been recognized as being harmful
and sensitizing, their amounts have been reduced to a minimum during recent years. Being
aware of the improvements in the paint production process with Clariant products, makes
the new living atmosphere created by beautiful bright colors all the more enjoyable!
EDW PIGMENTS | Innovation Spotlight Page 4
What is emulsion paint?
In chemical terms, an emulsion is a mixture of at least two compounds that do not mix such
as water and oil. Emulsion paints are viscous coatings consisting of binders, solvents, pigments
and additives.
What are pigments?
Pigments (from the Latin pigmentum: color, make-up) are agents for coloration. They
are divided into two groups: inorganic pigments these include earths and minerals and
organic pigments these are found naturally in animals and plants. Today, paints and coatings
are manufactured using mainly synthetic pigments which have improved color durability.
The most varied and largest group of synthetic organic pigments are azo pigments representing
more than 50 percent of the pigments. In contrast to dyes, pigments do not dissolve during the
application in coatings. But they are nely dispersed within the colorant they are applied to.
The color impression is afected by pigments absorbing certain wavelengths of visible light and
reecting others. The more nely the pigments are dispersed in the application, the more light
is reected and the more intensive is the color impression.
Why do pigments clump together?
Pigments typically consist of microscopically small particles known as primary particles.
Groups of several primary particles can stick together via their surfaces to produce
aggregates. Then, several aggregates come together to form agglomerates which during
the pigment dispersion process have to be separated. The primary particles and aggregates
clump together mainly because of the Van der Waals forces. These forces are relatively
weak dipole-dipole interactions between molecules whose attractive and repellent energy
decreases as the distance between them increases. Diferences in the electronegativity of the
chemical elements lead to charge shifting in the molecules, resulting in the molecule being
polarized positively in certain places and negatively in others; this is known as a dipole. When
two molecules approach each other, the negatively polarized parts of one molecule attract the
positively polarized parts of the other. This dipole-dipole interaction causes the two molecules
to stick rmly together like magnets. The Van der Waals forces are only efective in presence
of very small particles; in case of larger particles, this efect is overridden by gravity.
How do EDW additives prevent the pigments clumping together?
EDW additives are behaving like surfactants. One part of the additive heads which has
an afnity with the pigment will stick to the pigments surface while the tail of the additive
will expand into the carrier medium. Two diferent forces called steric and electrostatic
stabilizations prevent the pigment aggregates to stay together in the emulsion. Steric
stabilizations arise when the tails of the additive extend into the dispersion medium. When
two pigment particles come close to each other, their surfaces cannot stick together due to
the EDW additive tails which keep them separated. Electrostatic stabilizations arise due to
the electric charge carried by the EDW additive: the heads which have an afnity for the
pigment are not charged, whereas the tails of the EDW additive are for example negatively
charged. Each pigment aggregate is therefore surrounded by a negatively charged protective
surface which repeals other pigment particles and keeps them at a certain distance.
Chemistry
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