‘Color-Variable’ Concentrates to be Introduced at NPE 2003 Create Exciting Shimmering Effects

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PAWTUCKET, RHODE ISLAND, U.S.A., March 7, 2003: Plastics processors serving markets as various as cosmetic packaging, appliances, and sporting goods can achieve iridescent multi-colored effects through use of new color concentrates incorporating recently developed “color-variable” pigments, it was announced today by Teknor Color Company, which will introduce the concentrates at NPE 2003 (Booth 9755).

Teknor Color formulates its new Magic Color Concentrates (TM) using VARIOCROM (TM) pigments from BASF Corporation. “In sheet, film, bottles, or injection molded parts, VARIOCROM pigments generate a play of bright colors that shift or merge from one into another as the viewing angle changes, adding a whole new dimension of consumer appeal,” said Stephan Pronovost, marketing manager for Teknor Color. “Magic Color Concentrates make these exciting effects available for use in any thermoplastics process and will especially benefit manufacturers targeting under-30 consumers or markets demanding a bold or novel visual flair.”

Custom formulations of Magic Color Concentrates are now available in a wide range of colors for use with polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polycarbonate, and most ABS grades. In the first North American application of the new technology, Teknor Color recently supplied such concentrates to Conair Corp. for a new line of hand-held hair dryers.

The Bigger and More Curved the Part, the More Exciting the Color Play
Colors available in the Magic Color Concentrate series include red, green, gold, purple, violet, blue, autumn, purple-green, and green-gold. Other combinations are available on request. The
intensity of the color-variable effect depends on the clarity of the natural resin used, and the shift in hue is most pronounced in large parts with multiple curves.

VARIOCROM pigments generate their special effects when incorporated in a transparent
resin, which in turn can be coextruded over a conventionally colored substrate when product
opacity is required. Besides packaging, appliances, and sporting goods, potential applications include consumer electronics, office accessories, toys, housewares, and novelties.

The new pigments yield more intense color and a more complex play of shifting hues than are available with conventional angle-dependent or “flip-flop” colorants, according to Jennifer P. Bailey, BASF Account Manager. Based on technology developed in Germany two years ago by BASF AG, VARIOCROM pigments come in four basic colors: gold, red, purple, and green. “These can be combined with organic pigments and dyes to produce an infinite variety of colors,” Bailey said. “Possibilities range from dramatic color shifts, such as from rose to green, to many kinds of subtle effects. For example, a part might be transparent when viewed at an angle of 90 degrees, colored at 15 degrees, and opaque at 180 degrees.”

‘Vast’ Potential for Color-Variable Concentrates Seen in Packaging Market
Packaging applications are the focus of much of the initial development work by Teknor Color, according to William K. Clarke, Teknor Color Business Development Manager. “The packaging potential for Magic Color Concentrates is vast, including a wide range of bottle, jar, cap, closure, and even film applications.”

Intriguing packaging effects are achievable by changing the colorant loading, according to BASF’s Bailey. “In a package made with low concentrations of colorant, the color of the contents may interact dynamically with that of the package; an orange liquid in a pink bottle, for example, may appear golden. And at very low concentrations, a package such as a blister pack can appear transparent from a side view and translucent when viewed straight on, a very eye-catching property on the retail shelf. Similarly exciting effects result from coextruding a layer of materials with color-variable pigment over an opaque layer.”

VARIOCROM pigments have FDA approval for food-contact applications, Bailey noted.

For information on VARIOCROM and other colorants for plastics, contact BASF at www.basf.com/pigmentsforplastics. VARIOCROM is a trademark of BASF Aktiengesellschaft.