Comparison of pigments and fillers in coatings

There are many difference between pigment and filler, especially the white pigments and fillers. There are a wide range of pigments and fillers, such as plastics, coatings, inks, etc. Discussions about paint and pigments are much. Here is a simple summary about the application of pigments and fillers in coatings.



Pigments are colored (white) fine granular substance. It does not dissolve in the dispersion medium and is a class of inorganic or organic substances showing its colors based on the "particle". The particle size of pigment is typically between 30nm-100μm. The color, covering, coloring and other characteristics of pigments have a great relationship with its decentralized state in the media.

There are a lot of similarities about organic pigments and dyes of the pigments. The most fundamental difference is that dye is soluble in the dispersion medium, with its "gene" shows its colors. Filler is a kind of fine particulate material mainly act as fill in the medium. It insoluble in dispersion medium and also known as extender pigment.
Fillers powder are mostly white or light gray, its coverage and tinting strength in the media is very low. Add filler to the media can effectively change the physical and chemical properties of the medium of non-color. Pigments and fillers are an important part of coatings. According to the use request of coatings, adding variety and quantity of pigment and filler is different. These pigments and fillers can not only ensure that the paint has excellent hiding power, rich colors, but also can give the film and the construction of other special effects.

Pigments is one of the necessary ingredients in the production of coatings paints. In addition to provide color to film, it can also provide more improvement in physical and chemical properties, such as covers, light resistance, weather resistance, temperature resistance, mechanical strength and chemical resistance, gloss, etc. Use functional pigments in the coatings can give the special performance to coatings, such as special decorative effects, corrosion-resistant, fire retardant, conductive, antistatic and so on.

Filler in coatings mainly has two functions. The first is fill to save cost, the second is by adding fillers to change film or coatings the physical and chemical properties. Compared with the pigment, most fillers are low cost, low oil absorption and easier to disperse and so on. If you have interest, please click here!